Syria

There's a lot of hysteria in NATO foreign ministries and media about Russian incursions into Turkish air space, but Turkey's policy on Syria is not aligned with NATO's. Erdogan's main objective is to get rid of potentially troublesome Kurds of the YPG, who have been the most effective opposition to the Daesh. It was with great reluctance that he allowed a small contingent from other YPG-held territory to cross through Turkish territory to help defend their beleaguered colleagues in Kobane when they were on the verge of being wiped out a year ago. If the Turks don't agree that the eradication of the Daesh is the paramount necessity for restoring peace in the region and allowing hundreds of thousands of refugees to return to their homes, we should be looking for other allies with the necessary muscle to do the job. We should be holding talks with Moscow on how to avoid incidents in the air that could have disastrous consequences for both Russia and NATO, and building a new coalition in which all participants are on the same wavelength. Patrick Cockburn as usual makes a lot of sense, http://ind.pn/1VCcKvV