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  1. #1

    Turkey: No F16s From Our Bases but Drones Okay

    Okay, Turkey might change it's mind but so far...

    exclusive-turkey-ok-s-american-drones-to-fight-isis

    Turkey is now allowing the U.S. to launch unmanned aircraft to fly over Syria. But so far, traditional warplanes are out of the question.

    Send in the drones. But keep the manned aircraft at home.

    That’s the message from the Turkish government to the U.S.-led coalition bombing ISIS and other extremists in Syria.

    Despite some recent signals from the Turkish government that it was finally ready to partner with the United States and others in the new war against ISIS, there is still a major snag.

    U.S. officials working on the diplomacy and intelligence components of the new war tell The Daily Beast that Ankara is still prohibiting the United States from flying manned aircraft from the U.S. airbase in Incirlik, Turkey. Instead, the Turks are allowing only drones to take off from the base.

    “They are letting us do a ton of signals work,” a U.S. official working the issue said, using military jargon for the interception of hostile communications. “They have not objected to just about anything on the surveillance side. The fights have been about manned aircraft coming in and out.” The dispute over flying the manned aircraft has been a source of considerable tensions behind the scenes since the U.S. campaign against ISIS began in August. But the outlines of that dispute spilled out into the open this week.

    National Security Advisor Susan Rice said Oct. 13 on Meet the Press that Turkey had agreed to let its bases be used in the fight against ISIS, but several senior Turkish officials rushed to deny Rice’s claim. “There is no decision at the moment concerning Incirlik or any other issue,” Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the next day. Turkey has publicly called for a no-fly zone and for airstrikes against the Assad regime.

    On Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry claimed that the U.S. and Turkey were on the same page. “[Turkey] certainly has allowed the use of certain facilities, and we don’t need to get into specifics except to say that I don’t believe there is any discrepancy with respect to what they will or won’t do,” he said.

    But White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday that there was still no formal agreement between the U.S. and Turkey over using Turkish bases in the fight against ISIS. “This issue of military bases in Turkey is an issue that continues to be discussed between American officials and Turkish officials,” he said.

    One U.S. intelligence official told The Daily Beast that overall Turkey has been willing to allow the United States to fly drones out of Incirlik but has not allowed the United States to fly manned aircraft. Instead, those missions have been flown from other locations and from aircraft carriers stationed in the region.

    Another U.S. official working on the new war against ISIS and al-Nusra confirmed this information. Both sources requested anonymity because they were discussing classified information.

    The Turkish press has also reported that some drones are flying out of Turkey. “There are activities that we are already undertaking jointly from Incirlik, concerning Iraq: the Predators, the reconnaissance flights can continue,” Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Milliyet earlier this month, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles. “But as a base for a more extensive operation — if they are expecting the contribution of any country — we have already made our position clear: there has to be a no-fly zone and a safe haven must be declared,” he said.

    They are letting us do a ton of signals work," a U.S. official working the issue told The Daily Beast. "They have not objected to just about anything on the surveillance side. The fights have been about manned aircraft coming in and out.”

    The Incirlik base is important. In 2011, after Obama ordered all U.S. troops out of Iraq, some of the most sensitive military aircraft, drones, blimps and other sensors housed in Iraq were positioned at the Incirlik base. In the 1990s the U.S. flew missions over northern Iraq when Saddam Hussein was in control of that country from the Incirlik air base.

    Turkey has been a fair weather ally against ISIS and al-Nusra as well. U.S. officials have publicly testified in the last year that new western recruits often travel through Turkey to get to Syria to join ISIS and al-Nusra. U.S. officials now say Turkey has started to take steps to cut down on the number of foreign fighters traveling through Turkey into Syria.

    Ret. Gen. John Allen, the President’s designated coordinator for the anti-ISIS coalition, told reporters Tuesday that a team of military officials from Central Command and European Command were still in negotiations but nothing has been settled.

    “The conversation with respect to how those kinds of details will ultimately be resolved is underway right now,” Allen said, noting that Turkey has made some additional commitments to the coalition, such as agreeing in principle to host one of the bases that will be used to train and equip Syrian rebels.

    Spokesmen for the Pentagon and CIA refused to comment for this story. Patrick Ventrell, a spokesman for Rice, declined to explain why the National Security Advisor announced that the Turks had agreed to open permissions for the use of their bases. But there is broad agreement between Washington and Ankara as to how the fight against ISIS should proceed, he said.



    “We share with Turkey a good foundation for moving our conversations forward. We will continue to work with our partners in Turkey on current and potential areas of cooperation in the shared fight to degrade and defeat ISIL. We have always been clear that this is a long-term effort, and one that will require close coordination with all coalition partners,” he said.

    Sen. Carl Levin, the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told The Daily Beast that the U.S. and Turkey don’t seem to be on the same page. Levin is calling for a Turkish buffer zone inside Syria, protected by a U.S.-led no fly zone.

    “I don’t know why [Rice] said what she said,” he said. “We’re trying to find out what the basis for that was.”
    .

    "This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can."

    -- Capt. Copeland

  2. #2
    Deleted
    How stupid, there is little difference between a Fighter and a Drone.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by RICH816 View Post
    How stupid, there is little difference between a Fighter and a Drone.
    One has weapons, the other surveillance equipment. Seems like a big enough difference to me.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Karaoke View Post
    One has weapons, the other surveillance equipment. Seems like a big enough difference to me.
    The US has armed drones.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Noobadin View Post
    The US has armed drones.
    And? Is Turkey allowing the US to launch armed drones? I didn't read that in the article but maybe I missed it.

  6. #6
    Banned Kellhound's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Karaoke View Post
    One has weapons, the other surveillance equipment. Seems like a big enough difference to me.
    The MQ-9 can carry 4 Hellfire missiles and 2 500lbs laser guided bombs.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Karaoke View Post
    One has weapons, the other surveillance equipment. Seems like a big enough difference to me.
    Yeah, thats not what a drone it. A drone is an aircraft that is piloted remotely, you can get both armed and unarmed drones and conventional aircraft.

  8. #8
    The Normal Kasierith's Avatar
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    I think the article implied that the drones being stationed there were equipped for surveillance only. If that's not the case..... not really sure what Turkey is doing.

  9. #9
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    Unless Turkey specifically forbids basing armed drones at their bases then we'll have to assume only manned fighters are restricted.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Karaoke View Post
    One has weapons, the other surveillance equipment. Seems like a big enough difference to me.
    Drones can be armed. I thought this was common knowledge

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by supertony51 View Post
    Drones can be armed. I thought this was common knowledge
    They can be armed...are they in this article?

  12. #12
    Merely a Setback PACOX's Avatar
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    So what we need is a way to way to arm a drone in the air.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by pacox View Post
    So what we need is a way to way to arm a drone in the air.
    Hide explosives inside the drone and kamikaze that bastard into something. Fun times for everyone!

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by pacox View Post
    So what we need is a way to way to arm a drone in the air.
    Or stage a coup and install shills that would allow drones.

  15. #15
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    Turkey is a corrupt place. They're not entirely against ISIS nor are they for them. They're against the Kurds, having commited genocide against them before. They definetly don't care for human rights, that considered. They barely have a democracy, made evident after all the debacle this year.

  16. #16
    One has an infidel inside, the other is a robot. I think that's the difference.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Noomz View Post
    Turkey is a corrupt place. They're not entirely against ISIS nor are they for them. They're against the Kurds, having commited genocide against them before. They definetly don't care for human rights, that considered. They barely have emocracy, made evident after all the debacle this year.
    Are you talking about government or people? Btw, educate yourself better, among countless genocide claims against Turkey, Kurdish Genocide is not one of them. It's Iraq, not Turkey...

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Noomz View Post
    Turkey is a corrupt place. They're not entirely against ISIS nor are they for them. They're against the Kurds, having commited genocide against them before. They definetly don't care for human rights, that considered. They barely have a democracy, made evident after all the debacle this year.
    What the hell? Why is Turkey supposed to fight other people's fights? You people are not gonna be the ones having bombs in their capitals blowing up. Our southern border is already crawling with isis bases.
    It is so easy to talk as if it is some kind a videogame for you from thousands of kilometres away.

    Stop spreading misinformation.
    Leading party akp ( which i don't like) has the most kurdish votes in the country.

    Pkk never stopped attacking Turkey. Just a week ago 3 policemen died, we are in constant fear of their bombings in cities. For us there is absolutely no difference between pkk and isis. And pkk has done us much more harm than isis. Situation is dog fighting dog for us.

    Turkey took in millions of refugees from iraq and syria including the now famous for some reason, kobane.

    For years it was killing people saying Turkish people should not be here, now they are saying Turkish army should save them all and build their country for them.
    Last edited by Maximus Testiculos; 2014-10-17 at 09:15 AM.

  19. #19
    Deleted
    Can we please already end this farce, declare Turkey a country on par with North Korea, Iran or some other villain countries and just help the Kurds carve it up to have a proper ally in that region who lets us use their then airbases and stuff?

    Quote Originally Posted by cenkiss View Post
    What the hell? Why is Turkey supposed to fight other people's fights? You people are not gonna be the ones having bombs in their capitals blowing up. Our southern border is already crawling with isis bases.
    It is so easy to talk as if it is some kind a videogame for you from thousands of kilometres away.
    You are crawling with Isis bases because you're supporting them, even those sieging Kobane. You are funding and supporting radical Islamistic groups all over the Middle East and Europe and are currently lead by Islamists.

    Stop spreading misinformation.
    Leading party akp ( which i don't like) has the most kurdish votes in the country.
    Let's gonna wait how long that is gonna last after the current crisis.

    Pkk never stopped attacking Turkey. Just a week ago 3 policemen died, we are in constant fear of their bombings in cities. For us there is absolutely no difference between pkk and isis. And pkk has done us much more harm than isis. Situation is dog fighting dog for us.
    You mean after you guys started randomly shooting protestors and killed around 40+ people? Please stop acting as if Turkey wasn't the aggressor in pretty much everyone conflict that has gone down there in the last 100+ years if they were involved.

    Turkey took in millions of refugees from iraq and syria including the now famous for some reason, kobane.
    Turkey is also bankrolling, supporting and arming groups like Isis.
    Turkey also fires and kills Kurdish fighters trying to join Kobane, while actively aiding the Isis siege.
    Turkey also has a bunch of tank there, not to help stop a massacre about to happen but to help in the Siege of Kobane and keep Kurdish reinforcements out.
    Turkey is currently proving that they're unfit for the Nato or EU membership.
    Last edited by mmoc5e6c40f22c; 2014-10-17 at 09:18 AM.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Deleth View Post
    Can we please already end this farce, declare Turkey a country on par with North Korea, Iran or some other villain countries and just help the Kurds carve it up to have a proper ally in that region who lets us use their then airbases and stuff?
    If you declare Turkey as enemy (which you have no reason to do so), we are gonna basically ally with Russia & China, effectively block USA's power projection in the region. Two strongest country in the region is Iran and Turkey and then Syria. Imagine what happens if you isolate Turkey. USA has no power to make Kurds carve up unless they engage in a direct warfare with Turkey.

    Welcome to reality.
    Last edited by Kuntantee; 2014-10-17 at 09:19 AM.

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