Post #1- Turkey

       Turkey is a relatively small country, comparative in size to the state of Texas. With a population of roughly 79 million, almost all of them practice Muslim religion (99.8%).

        Turkey used to be a unified governmental country, with a small 15 percent of the population isolating themselves called the Kurdish. Referred to as Kurds, they play a big role in the problems in Turkey with the government. In the 1990s they began to support the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) which both the U.S. and Turkey considered a terrorist group. The current president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, created a new party, the pro-Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP). The launching of the newest group in 2015, the Peoples' Democratic Party, is what stirred up the real tension. 

      The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) is inordinately made up of Kurds and creates a malicious environment for the rest of the country. While it is reported that this is the entire country's choice of party, demographics show that it is south-eastern Turkey that largely supports them. They are aimed towards implementing gender equality and rights for women. However, their attempts to attack other parties in Turkey has created tension between the groups. Worries arise from this that Turkey can no longer count on the Kurdish citizens for support through war, terrorism, or other times of conflict in the country.

        Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the current president of Turkey and describes himself as a conservative democrat. Recently, Turkey seems to be in danger while portraying themselves to be more hostile towards their surrounding countries. In November, Turkey shot down a Russian plane that flew into their territory. This was the first time in more than a half century that a member of NATO shot down a Russian plane, according to an article by Fox News.

       NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization which holds 28 member countries and attempts to instill the intentions written in the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949. On their official website, they state, "NATO promotes democratic values and encourages consultation and cooperation on defence and security issues to build trust and, in the long run, prevent conflict."



       Clearly, their objective was misdirected by Turkey's recent actions. Despite the falling out, though, Russia hasn't stopped pushing their limits. They have violated the border multiple times since and Erdogan is getting fed up. On Friday, he sent a warning to Moscow that they would "endure the consequences" if they did not cease the invasion of their borders. Russia denies that they even invaded the borders in the first place. So, here we have potential trouble with Russia.
      Turkey is bordered by Syria, as well, and may begin to see more trouble coming from that end in relations to ISIS. Back in July, Erdogan and Obama agreed to work together to, "stem the flow of foreign fighters and secure Turkey's border with Syria." Erdogan agreed to open Turkish bases to U.S. drones and planes, and vowed to work together with the United States to bomb ISIS targets in Syria. According to an article by the Atlantic, they think that this ensures Turkey as an enemy for ISIS.
      What does this mean for Turkey? Well, with the country beginning to split politically, they definitely need all the help they can get -- emphasizing the United States. Their border with Syria now offers a direct gateway for attacks from ISIS. And Russia's failure to cooperate (according to Turkey), is basically an antagonistic combat that will get nothing but a violent response from Turkey, creating more violence and potential damage to the security of NATO.