Brussels, 16/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 16 October, Turkey's European Affairs Minister Volkan Bozkir asked for the Islamic State issue to be tackled in an unconventional way.
“This group has taken a shape that is not conventional. It would be difficult to counter it with conventional forces (Ed: such as an army on the ground)”, Bozkir told the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee. He recalled that only 800 fighters had succeeded in taking Mosul - which was defended by 55,000 Iraqi soldiers. “The only way to deal with this unconventional force is with unconventional forces. If we send conventional forces, they will face trouble”, Bozkir added. “If we can establish a coalition, the USA will have to be in it and the European military powers too. We will perhaps be able to use conventional forces”, he nevertheless stated. Bozkir denounced the fact that countries criticised Turkey for not sending troops, when in fact no one wants to do this. “We do not intend to send troops to another country”, he said. “Let's all do it together. We need a resolution from the United Nations Security Council, a decision from NATO”, he said.
As an alternative, Bozkir proposed using the unconventional forces already in Syria, the moderate opposition, to tackle the Jihadist groups. “We train them together. We equip them and send them to resolve the issue of Islamic State for good”, he said. In Bozkir's view, the Kurdish fighters are a legend. There are no guerrillas to send to Syria.
He also called for a no-fly zone.
New strategy for relations. Bozkir, who has been working on European affairs for 14 years, presented the MEPs with his country's strategy as regards the EU. “We have drafted a new strategy as regards the EU. It will be the basis for our relations with the EU, (…) our main platform”, he said. He stated that Turkey gave absolute priority to the political reforms and wanted to make up the difference between “responding sufficiently” to the EU's political criteria and “responding fully”. Turkey wants to set up a communication strategy. “It's a question of repairing the EU's image in Turkey, and Turkey's image in the EU”, by making use of civil society, he said. Questioned on the Cypriot issue, Bozkir said that this issue “is dear to” his country. “We are trying to resolve the issue. Turkey will do everything it can”, he concluded. (CG)