Imperiled by militants, Turkey joins NATO, Muslim coalition to destroy Islamic State group
WASHINGTON — Moving from reluctance to refusal and finally to acceptance, Turkey is joining its NATO allies and fellow Sunni Muslim nations in a coalition to destroy the Islamic State militant group. But the world is still waiting for details of any new, specific aid and is warily watching to make sure Ankara keeps its commitments.
Often described as a difficult partner, Turkey long has resisted being used as a launching pad for foreign troops to attack neighboring nations. Most recently it has been accused of harboring — or at least helping — Islamic State group militants by letting them traffic fighters, weapons and lucrative oil shipments over its borders.
But the rampant insurgency has put Turkey at peril. The mostly peaceful nation that depends heavily on international tourism is now grappling with a two-fronted threat from militants who have overtaken much of bordering Syria and Iraq, as well as from Kurdish separatists whom Ankara has fought for decades. Moreover, an estimated 1.5 million Syrian and Iraqi refugees have fled to Turkey, where the economy is already fading.
Until this week, Turkey was coy about whether it would contribute to a coalition of what the U.S. says is about 50 countries that have united against the Islamic State group. For months, the world largely gave Turkey a pass as it sought to free 49 of its diplomats, family members and employees who were kidnapped by the militants from the Turkish Consulate in Mosul, Iraq, in June.
The hostages were freed last weekend, prompting the U.S. and other coalition nations to press Turkey on what it would contribute.
Police: ‘No idea whatsoever’ where missing Virginia student is despite man’s arrest in Texas
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The owner of a bar where a missing University of Virginia student was last seen with a man charged in her abduction says she could barely walk that night without the man’s support.
Tempo Restaurant owner Brice Cunningham told The Associated Press on Thursday that Hannah Graham appeared to be incapacitated as she walked away with Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. nearly two weeks ago.
Matthew, a 32-year-old operating room technician at the university’s hospital, had been drinking at the bar earlier that night before he encountered the 18-year-old sophomore outside on Charlottesville’s pedestrian Downtown Mall, Cunningham said.
Matthew then briefly re-entered the bar, ordered what credit card records suggest were two beers, and rejoined the teenager outside. The bar’s door monitor told police they walked off with Matthew’s arm around her for support, he said.
Matthew was charged with “abduction with intent to defile” the sophomore after he fled police questioning on Saturday. He made it as far as the Texas beach town of Gilchrist, 1,260 miles from home and about a seven-hour drive from the border.
Dashboard video shows SC trooper shooting unarmed driver; trooper charged with assault, fired
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina state trooper’s dashboard video shows an unarmed driver being shot just seconds after he was stopped for a seatbelt offense — and the trooper, who was fired last week, has now been charged with assault.
As Levar Jones cried in pain waiting for an ambulance, he repeated one question: “Why did you shoot me?”
Jones’ painful groans and then-Trooper Sean Groubert’s reply — “Well you dove head first back into your car” — were captured by the camera.
Groubert’s boss, state Public Safety Director Leroy Smith, called the video “disturbing” and said “Groubert reacted to a perceived threat where there was none” as he fired the officer Friday.
The 31-year-old former trooper is charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, a felony that carries up to 20 years in prison. He was released after paying 10 percent of a $75,000 bond.
By wire sources