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"Palestine is an innocent victim... as for Israel, it is a terrorist state, yes, terrorist!" Erdogan said at a congress of his ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) in the Turkish city of Sivas on Sunday. "We will not abandon Jerusalem to the mercy of a state that kills children," he added.
As a NATO member (however uncomfortable, a NATO member), should Erodgan up the stakes in his opposition to Israel, things could get incredibly difficult for the US. The US maintains its own nuclear weapons on Turkish soil at Incirlik Air Base, which is also used as a major air base for the US Air Force. Germany once too had a presence at Incirlik but was effectively kicked out by Ankara earlier this year.
If Turkey threatened the US with the deprivation of Incirlik or suspension of NATO membership, the alliance could crumble as currently constituted. If Turkey took things a step further and demanded the removal of US nuclear weapons from Turkish soil, such a move would constitute a profound international crisis.
It remains to be seen what Ankara will do in respect of the promised diplomatic sanctions against Tel Aviv.
In many ways, as a traditional US ally and Israeli partner, Turkey is well placed to make a move on the issue of Palestine that the US could not stop without risking a dynamic shake-up of not only regional political alignments (which are already well under way), but more importantly, a shake-up of the US ability to use Turkish facilities for its own warplanes and weapons. [...]
In Syria, Erdogan has re-aligned himself with the victorious side, but in Palestine, Turkey could take a bold move of one kind or another in order to fulfil Erdogan's long standing dream of being a hero to the Arab and Muslim world. [...]
This is not to say that Turkey will militarily intervene in Palestine, but Turkey possesses many diplomatic, economic and military-logistical tools at its disposal which can be employed to relieve Palestine.
Iran is already considered an enemy by both the US and Israel. Turkey on the other hand, by going against its traditional allies, would in some ways be making an even more seismic statement, if indeed, further action is taken by Ankara over the issue of Palestine.
The Trump administration is considering a set of proposals developed by Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a retired CIA officer - with assistance from Oliver North, a key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal - to provide CIA Director Mike Pompeo and the White House with a global, private spy network that would circumvent official U.S. intelligence agencies, according to several current and former U.S. intelligence officials and others familiar with the proposals. The sources say the plans have been pitched to the White House as a means of countering "deep state" enemies in the intelligence community seeking to undermine Trump's presidency.
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