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Turkey prepares decision on fighting Islamic State

The Turkish Parliament will begin deliberations Thursday.

By Ed Adamczyk
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. UPI/Pat Benic
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. UPI/Pat Benic | License Photo

ANKARA, Turkey, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Turkey has said it will play a more active role in fighting the Islamic State, and discussions on the level of its involvement are underway.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was consulted by U.S. President Barack Obama and Vice president Joe Biden while attending the United Nations General Assembly last week, and returned home announcing Turkey, a NATO member, was prepared to get involved in fighting IS. Whether Turkey will commit to joining the U.S.-led coalition will be undertaken by the Parliament Thursday. IS militants have taken control of parts of Syria and Iraq, and Turkey's border with the two countries is nearly 800 miles long. Nearly 200,000 Kurdish refugees have escaped from the fighting by streaming into Turkey, as have over a million people fleeing from the nearly four-year civil war in Syria.

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"They have to accept that while Turkey isn't comfortable with IS tactics, they don't see the Islamic State as a natural threat. The government isn't under pressure to go and deal with Islamic State in Syria. Turkey is under pressure to make sure IS doesn't come into Turkey," said analyst Hugh Pope of the International Crisis Group, based in Brussels.

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Returning from New York, Ergodan's comments were more aggressive than in the past.

"We do not have the luxury to say terrorist actions ... do not concern us. We, as Muslims, should do our best. If the Christian world takes such a step on an issue that hurts the conscience of humanity, we will not remain a bystander."

Turkey, however, remains vulnerable to terrorist attacks of its own.

"The Turkish government still fears a backlash from the Islamic State because they have human power very close to the Turkish border. They recruited a lot of people from Turkey as well, so they have potential militants in Turkish soil," said Erdal Guven, editor of the Turkish news website Dikken.

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