No Troops, No Bases: Turkey Won’t Take Part in War on ISIS

Germany Won't Play Role in Airstrikes

President Obama has made a big deal about this growing “coalition” of nations involved in his new war on ISIS, but many of the coalition are members in name only, with many unlikely to do anything.

Turkey, which has a long border with ISIS territory, seems to be practically out of the coalition already, saying that not only will they play no role in the combat operations against ISIS, but that they won’t allow the US to use their airbases for the war either.

Turkey’s role was expected to be muted because of the fate of a large number of Turkish hostages held by ISIS, but officials now say that their hands are effectively tied, and that the airbases can only be used for humanitarian flights, not for airstrikes.

Germany’s Foreign Ministry is also ruling out any involvement in combat operations, saying they haven’t been asked to take part in the airstrikes, and that they won’t at any rate.

Britain’s position is somewhat less clear. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond insisted that the nation would not take part in the strikes on Syria, but the premier’s office insisted that no decision had been made, and that Britain was not ruling out strikes in Syria.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.