Turkey refused US to station Combat SAR MV-22s for Syria ops

[Stratofreighter]

http://www.todayszaman.com/national_rep ... 71836.html

February 05, 2015, Thursday/ 13:00:34

The United States sought to deploy V-22 planes used for search and rescue missions at a Turkish base close to Syria,
but Ankara balked at allowing the US to use its bases, a report said on Thursday.

The report, published in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ),
comes amid reports that the United Arab Emirates has withdrawn from flying air strikes in the US-led international coalition campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria and Iraq due to complaints over the US search and rescue assets.

Citing US officials,
the WSJ said UAE officials raised concern about the location of US search and rescue assets after the capture of Jordanian pilot Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh by ISIL.

His plane went down when he was on a bombing mission against ISIL targets in Syria in December.
ISIL recently released a video purportedly showing Kaseasbeh being burned alive in a cage.

The UAE officials had asked US officials to position tilt-rotor V-22 Ospreys,
which are useful in rescues because they can take off like helicopters,
closer to Syria.

The V-22s are currently deployed in Kuwait.

The US has been reluctant to move the aircraft to northern Iraq given the fact that this would require the US military to send more forces to Iraq to protect them.

“The U.S. has also wanted to station the planes in Turkey,
but Ankara has balked at allowing the U.S. to use its bases,” WSJ said.

Turkey has condemned the gruesome killing of Kaseasbeh and says it supports the US-led coalition against ISIL.

But Ankara has refused to take action other than agreeing to train moderate rebels in Syria in coordination with the US.

Reports this week said the UAE suspended its participation in coalition airstrikes after Kaseasbeh's capture because it felt the US military had not made plans to rescue pilots who were shot down.

A senior US defense official quoted in a report on Wednesday by The Washington Post, however, opposed the UAE view, saying that “combat search and rescue assets were available and were dispatched immediately” after the Jordanian's F-16 went down.

“They got as quickly as possible to the last known location” of the pilot, the official told The Washington Post.
“When they got to the location, he wasn't there. He had been picked up very quickly, almost immediately after the crash.”

The UAE now wants the Pentagon to establish better search-and-rescue capability in northern Iraq close to the battlefield,
including tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey aircraft, before resuming air strikes, according to Reuters.

[Alpha Kilo One]

Curious I am what the Turkish government really want !

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[aviodromefriend]

Curious I am what the Turkish government really want !

As IS is being fought by the Kurds, Turkey might not be too anti IS, for as long as they don't become too powerful.

[Stefan]

Curious I am what the Turkish government really want !

Just in case you might think they do nothing; http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e48e0fa7f.html

[Richard from Rotterdam]

Somehow I can't find any relating story at the Wall Street Journal. Does anyone have a link maybe?

[Avia2l]

Curious I am what the Turkish government really want !

Just in case you might think they do nothing; http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e48e0fa7f.html

Sure they do...their army observes the massacre in Kompani

http://www.hellasforce.com/wp-content/u ... 20x412.jpg

[Richard from Rotterdam]

Well at least they took in 1.5 million Syrian refugees where most European countries only took in a couple thousand.

And of course the brave Greek armed forces came to the rescue of people in Syria...

[Avia2l]

Well at least they took in 1.5 million Syrian refugees where most European countries only took in a couple thousand.

And of course the brave Greek armed forces came to the rescue of people in Syria...

It wasnt the brave Greek army that negotiated the establishment of a buffer zone within Syria yet it will forward arms (if not already done) to those men.

Greece welcomed the international alliance against ISIS and participates in the alliance politically, through the provision of humanitarian aid, and on a military level – following a relevant recommendation of the Ministry of Defence and, more specifically, the National Defence General Staff – through the sending of ammunition to Kurdish forces.

http://www.mfa.gr/en/current-affairs/ne ... -isis.html


Take a glance at the Syrian-Turkish borders and guess who is who... it might prove nothing as well as the release of 40+ Turkish hostages held by ISIS last year

[Stratofreighter]

Somehow I can't find any relating story at the Wall Street Journal. Does anyone have a link maybe?

It is somewhat "buried" at
http://www.wsj.com/articles/jordan-cons ... 1423097759

The V-22s currently are located in Kuwait. The U.S. has been unwilling to move the V-22s to northern Iraq, closer to Syria, in part because they then would have to move more forces into Iraq to protect and maintain the helicopters.

The U.S. has also wanted to station the planes in Turkey, but Ankara has balked at allowing the U.S. to use its bases. The status of U.A.E. forces was first reported by the New York Times on Wednesday.

[Stratofreighter]

Curious I am what the Turkish government really want !

As IS is being fought by the Kurds, Turkey might not be too anti IS, for as long as they don't become too powerful.

http://www.newsweek.com/isis-and-turkey ... ish-282920

Getting somewhat off-topic now, but still...

‘ISIS Sees Turkey as Its Ally': Former Islamic State Member Reveals Turkish Army Cooperation

11/7/14 at 3:35 PM

A former member of ISIS has revealed the extent to which the cooperation of the Turkish military allows the terrorist group, who now control large parts of Iraq and Syria, to travel through Turkish territory to reinforce fighters battling Kurdish forces.

A reluctant former communications technician working for Islamic State, now going by the pseudonym ‘Sherko Omer’, who managed to escape the group, told Newsweek that he travelled in a convoy of trucks as part of an ISIS unit from their stronghold in Raqqa, across Turkish border, through Turkey and then back across the border to attack Syrian Kurds in the city of Serekaniye in northern Syria in February.

His full story:
http://www.newsweek.com/2014/11/14/it-w ... 82431.html

'It Was Never My Intention to Join ISIS': Interview With a Former Member of Islamic State

By Sherko Omer / November 6, 2014 8:50 AM EST

A former ISIS member going by the pseudonym Sherko Omer tells Newsweek of how he left his native Iraq hoping to join the fight against Assad in Syria, but soon found himself caught up in a horrifying sectarian war, unable to escape.

[Fishbed_9307]

What a completely pointless topic this is! Shouln't this be moved to the Tattle Lounge?

Regards, Paul

[Stratofreighter]

What a completely pointless topic this is! Shouln't this be moved to the Tattle Lounge?

Regards, Paul

It probably soon will be...