The Islamic State Has Sleeper Cells Throughout Turkey. Does Erdogan Care?
By Aki Peritz
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey is famously ambivalent about the threat of the Islamic State (IS). Last fall, he equated the terrorist organization, which has killed tens of thousands, with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which no longer participates in armed rebellion against the Turkish state. "For us, the PKK is the same as ISIL," Erdogan said. "It is wrong to consider them as different from each other." Turkey still does not allow U.S. planes to use Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey to bomb IS targets, nor does it directly act against the terrorist threat right on its southern border.
More:Islamic State (ISIS) Has Sleeper Cells in Turkey, Says National Police | The New Republic