Invasion of Turkey
 

Today in America the wires were buzzing with news about Isis invading Turkey. I know we have a resident "political" friend on the forum. I was wondering if I should stop planning my Turkish vacation for next year, before I even start?! I'm hoping not, but my husband keeps voicing his concerns.

Thanks

I just checked several news sites, and there are no reports of an invasion of Turkey. Moreover, chances are that you will be hundreds of miles from any potential military action on Turkey's eastern border.

On the other hand, if you are worried about going in that area, don't go.

not sure what "the wires" are but they are clearly unreliable.

IS have not invaded Turkey nor are they likely to - they are being very canny in the targets they attack, going for relatively soft ones. The reaction they would provoke from the heavily armed Turks [who are part of NATO] would be far more than they would want to deal with.

However, this does not mean that you can be sanguine about the situation - there are reports of widespread demonstrations by turkish Kurds which have led to deaths - which you are unlikely to come across but which might effect you depending where you are intending to go in Turkey.

What advice is the State Department giving?

Please read my thread on "Visiting Turkey......." where i post information on current conditions for visitors including any and all warnings.

What you heard sounds like someone in Europe saying he heard that the Mexican drug cartels invading United States.

Given the size of the conventional Turkish army and the Nato certainty that would be a big mistake. In fact it would be close to suicide which given that IS is a death cult for others makes no sense.

Still if it does look a bit like the Red Army sat out side Warsaw while the Nazis destroyed it, well......

You should have heard the Turkish ambassador being destroyed on Radio 4 this morning. "we need a coalition" yes you have one, "we need a aircraft free zone" yes you have one as IS does not have aircraft. "but but but".

Turkey has had the opportunity to make best friends with a bunch of Kurds and has failed to step up to the mark. Sad.

I mean you do know that Turkey has the second biggest conventional army in the whole of NATO?

Why would IS "invade" Turkey, while Turkey is visibly standing back to let them and the Kurds keep each other busy (or at the very least, not wanting to risk enhancing the position of either Iraqui or, particularly, Syrian Kurds).

>>Turkey has had the opportunity to make best friends with a bunch of Kurds and has failed to step up to the mark<<

That wasn't a mark the Turkish military was ever likely to consider worth stepping up to.

<i>What you heard sounds like someone in Europe saying he heard that the Mexican drug cartels invading United States.</i>

Accurate.

Patrick, you are right, but sometimes you have to let "hope" out of the box. :-)

I think Turkey sees Assad's government in Syria (who do have warplanes) as the main problem in the region, IS and the Kurds are just a side issue.

If they were going to assist anyone, it would be the FSA.

But Assad's planes are not in this area and would be fools to enter.

Sorry this is just a sad day for Turkey

The Turks are still annoyed that Syria shot down one of their planes two years ago. And a year ago the Turks shot down a Syrian helicopter on the border and six months ago another Syrian plane was shot down.
See this article - http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News...on-border.html

I guess Assad doesn't mind IS, al-Nusra, al-Qaeda, the FSA and the Kurds all fighting each other.

For the Turks, it is all about their complicated relationship with the Kurds.

"complicated" is a diplomatic way of phrasing it.

Antagonistic?

Hegemonistic???

Ah, hegemonistic, but only short term, lacking in strategic vision

lacking any vision whatsoever.

The Turkish PM is determined to emulate the cartoon character "Iznogoud"

http://www.iznogoudworld.com/

:-)

I must be psychic or something...

I said earlier "If they were going to assist anyone, it would be the FSA".

And the latest news is that "Turkey has agreed to support the training and equipping of the moderate opposition in Syria" - http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/tur...&NewsCatID=359
I heard it on the BBC's Ten O'Clock News this evening as well.

I think we've been had -- We have an OP who begins with a false premise and disappears.

No false premise, didn't disappear. Just wanted to convince my husband that it was a safe vacation destination!

Keep your ear to the ground, soods, next year could be a different scenario (for the better, one would hope). This year there have been more tourists visiting Turkey than any time before - over 20 million up to August.

Also keep an eye on otherchelebi's advice on this forum.

as this is as much about soods trying to convince her DH as about Turkey, I think that she needs to take into account the angst that she will go through leading up to the holiday if she persuades him to go. Daily checking the news, "friends" telling him it's dangerous, DH getting anxious, etc. etc.

She knows her DH better than we do, but I'm not sure that I would want to put myself through that. We first wanted to go to Sri Lanka over 30 years ago, but the war broke out there and we went to The Gambia instead. We had a terrific time, and finally 2 years ago we got to Sri Lanka, where we didn't need to worry about being blown up or shot. [though there were still soldiers with automatic guns patrolling Colombo, that was more about the Cricket World Cup than the previous conflict].

only the OP knows how much DH's worries, well-founded or not, might ruin their trip.

While what Annhig states is true, most people want to make a decision on the facts rather than fears as much as much possible. But once again, rational thought can be overwhelmed by emotion. The above discussion could serve as guidance for others.