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Germany and Turkey will not take part in bombing ISIS

September 13, 2014 at 11:35 am

Germany and Turkey announced their refusal to take part in US-led airstrikes on ISIS militants in Iraq and Syria.

At a joint press conference with his British counterpart Philip Hammond in Berlin, German foreign minister Frank Stein Mart said that “no one has asked [Germany] to take part [in bombing ISIS]” and asserted that Germany will not take part in the operations. Instead, he called for turning military plans into a political strategy to counter ISIS. He added that Germany is prepared to discuss this strategy on the side-lines of the meeting to be held by G-7 foreign ministers in New York.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry continues to hold meetings with world leaders to coordinate aerial attacks aimed at crushing ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

For his part, UK’s foreign secretary Philip Hammond confirmed that his country will not take part in the operations but that it supports the formation of an international alliance against ISIS.

In Turkey, a government official confirmed that his country will not participate in the Washington-led operations against ISIS, pointing out that Turkey will be focused on humanitarian relief operations. However, he added that his country might allow the alliance to use the Incirlik military base in southern Turkey “for logistical reasons.”