Turkey unrest hits anti-Daesh fight

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama held talks with top national security advisers Saturday after the coup attempt in Turkey that froze some airstrikes against Daesh.
The government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears to have repelled the plot, but the situation remains fraught and tensions between Washington and Ankara appeared to be growing.
The Turkish authorities have imposed a security lockdown and cut power to the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey. The facility is 68 miles (110 kilometers) from the Syrian border and houses a stash of nuclear weapons and 1,500 US troops.
It is also used by the US Air Force to hit Daesh targets in Iraq and Syria and provide air cover for rebel groups fighting the terrorists.
Sorties from the base had been suspended because airspace had been closed, US officials said.
“US Central Command is adjusting flight operations in the counter-ISIL (Daesh) campaign to minimize any effects on the campaign,” Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the US military command in Europe ordered American forces across Turkey to take maximum protective measures.
During the coup, Obama threw his support behind Turkey’s “democratically elected government” and urged all parties to “avoid any violence or bloodshed.”
But there are growing concerns about a government crackdown on Erdogan’s opponents and what that may mean for a key ally in NATO.