Turkey wary of NATO's decision to join fight against IS
Turkey didn't veto NATO’s decision to join the anti-Islamic State coalition in Syria and Iraq, but it does consider the move part of a plan to strengthen the Kurdish People’s Protection Units.
NATO, which has had problems successfully conducting missions in the post-Cold War era, is now heading to Iraq and Syria after dismantling Yugoslavia and abandoning Libya, and without coping with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Nevertheless, at its May 25 summit in Brussels, NATO decided to join the 68-nation anti-Islamic State (IS) coalition led by the United States.
According to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, the alliance will step up its reconnaissance with AWACS (airborne warning and control system) planes, provide more intelligence support for anti-IS operations, coordinate air operations over Iraq and Syria, and set up a special unit in its Brussels headquarters for intelligence and planning against terror. But NATO will not play a combatant role.
