...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
bully boys, keeping Ankara's options open amid growing pressure from its Western allies for concrete action.
Ankara has for months frustrated the West with its distinctly low-key role in the campaign against IS jihadists but there have been signs over the last days it is shifting its approach.
"If any military operation or a solution carries the perspective of bringing peace and stability to the region, we will support it," Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a meeting of his ruling party in Ankara.
"We will take whatever measures our national security requires," he said, but without giving details about what such measures could entail.
Turkey is under pressure from the United States to play an active role in the broad coalition to defeat the jihadists, who have seized large swathes of territory in neighboring Iraq and Syria.
IS holy warriors have advanced on the mainly Kurdish Syrian town of Ain al-Arab, just a few kilometers south of the Turkish border. Davutoglu said some 160,000 refugees have now fled from there into Turkey.
Ankara had justified its reticent cooperation by saying its priority was to save dozens of Turkish nationals kidnapped by IS in Iraq. But after its citizens were freed over the weekend, Ankara's tone has changed.
On Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him...
welcomed U.S.-led air strikes against the holy warriors in Syria, saying Ankara could provide military or logistical support for the air campaign.
But it still remains unclear how extensive Turkish involvement would be.
Davutoglu said Turkey would oppose any operation in the Middle East region that has the aim of controlling oil and other energy resources.
A key moment in determining further Turkish action could come on October 2 when parliament convenes to consider extending the scope of two existing mandates allowing the government to take military action in Syria and Iraq.
Reports have said the United States is pressing Turkey to allow U.S. forces the use of the Incirlik air base for launching air raids on IS in northern Syria.
Erdogan, currently in the United States to attend the U.N. General Assembly, on Thursday held two hours of talks with U.S. Vice President
Joe Foreign Policy Whiz KidBiden
The former Senator-for-Life from Delaware, an example of the kind of top-notch Washington intellect to be found in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body....