Ankara has called for an emergency session with NATO membership under the treaty’s Article 4, fearing territorial integrity, political independence and security threats. The flash point was the recent suicide attack by the Islamic State on July 20 that killed 32 people.
In retaliation, Turkish military forces carried out their first airstrike against the Islamic State in Syria. They also targeted the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Iraq, using a combination of air and ground assaults.
Turkey faces two internal threats (the Islamic State and Kurdish militants) as well as an expanding de facto Kurdish sovereignty in Northern Iraq and the perpetual civil war and Islamic State on its southern borders in Syria.
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Editor’s note: NATO issued a statement pledging "strong solidarity" with Turkey following the meeting on Tuesday.
