Despite reassurances from the State Department, the aftermath in Turkey
of last week's failed coup may have damaged the U.S. ally's ability to
help fight the Islamic State, analysts said Thursday .
Much of the U.S. military campaign against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq has been conducted from Incirlik air base in Turkey, which has been without electricity since Friday's coup attempt.
The arrest of thousands of military officers across Turkey has created a new cadre of leaders who will be preoccupied with monitoring their ranks for trouble, said Eric Edelman, a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey and undersecretary for defense policy under former president George W. Bush.
He also said Turkish intelligence officials will be preoccupied with monitoring the military, rather than threats from the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS, in neighboring Syria and in Iraq.
“Turkey’s military is going to emerge from this very badly damaged as an institution,” Edelman said. “Its ability to be effective against ISIL will be truly compromised.”
Henri Barkey, director of the Middle East program at the Wilson Center in Washington, said Turkey has not participated much in the air campaign against the militants beyond allowing U.S. flights out of Incirlik, but it is in Turkey's interests to seal its border with Syria against the Islamic State and to take down group's infrastructure in Turkey.
“To the extent that Turkey’s intelligence institutions will focus on the (Turkish) military and stop focusing on (ISIL), we have to tell them not to stop focusing on ISIL,” Barkey said.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that there’s been no decrease in Turkish support or the fight against the Islamic State.
“We haven’t seen any degradation of Turkish support,” Kirby said. “The Turkish government itself has assured us there won’t be any negative development based on their ongoing investigation” of the coup attempt.
“Let’s remember the coup was led by and with elements of their military. So that they’re taking a close look at their military and talking to members of their own military should not surprise anyone,” Kirby said.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu could not attend Thursday's summit in Washington of countries helping fight the Islamic State, but he sent a deputy who made a “strong statement that Turkey’will not be affected" in going after the militant group, Secretary of State John Kerry said.
“Turkey remains committed to participating in the counter (Islamic State) coalition,” Kerry said.
Much of the U.S. military campaign against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq has been conducted from Incirlik air base in Turkey, which has been without electricity since Friday's coup attempt.
The arrest of thousands of military officers across Turkey has created a new cadre of leaders who will be preoccupied with monitoring their ranks for trouble, said Eric Edelman, a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey and undersecretary for defense policy under former president George W. Bush.
He also said Turkish intelligence officials will be preoccupied with monitoring the military, rather than threats from the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS, in neighboring Syria and in Iraq.
“Turkey’s military is going to emerge from this very badly damaged as an institution,” Edelman said. “Its ability to be effective against ISIL will be truly compromised.”
Henri Barkey, director of the Middle East program at the Wilson Center in Washington, said Turkey has not participated much in the air campaign against the militants beyond allowing U.S. flights out of Incirlik, but it is in Turkey's interests to seal its border with Syria against the Islamic State and to take down group's infrastructure in Turkey.
“To the extent that Turkey’s intelligence institutions will focus on the (Turkish) military and stop focusing on (ISIL), we have to tell them not to stop focusing on ISIL,” Barkey said.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that there’s been no decrease in Turkish support or the fight against the Islamic State.
“We haven’t seen any degradation of Turkish support,” Kirby said. “The Turkish government itself has assured us there won’t be any negative development based on their ongoing investigation” of the coup attempt.
“Let’s remember the coup was led by and with elements of their military. So that they’re taking a close look at their military and talking to members of their own military should not surprise anyone,” Kirby said.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu could not attend Thursday's summit in Washington of countries helping fight the Islamic State, but he sent a deputy who made a “strong statement that Turkey’will not be affected" in going after the militant group, Secretary of State John Kerry said.
“Turkey remains committed to participating in the counter (Islamic State) coalition,” Kerry said.
