US Military cuts intelligence Cooperation over counter terrorism operations
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WASHINGTON -United States Military cuts intelligence Cooperation with Turkey over counter terrorism operations against Daesh.
The United States has cut Turkey from the international military coalition against Daesh (ISIS)*, with Turkey no longer receiving intelligence or operational data on the terrorist group from the coalition’s Combined Air & Space Operations Centre at the Al-Udeid airbase in Qatar, Spiegel has reported link .
According to the German magazine, Turkey’s access to the operation materials was cut off by the Pentagon on 9 October, the same day that Turkey began its incursion into northern Syria following the pullout of US troops.
Spiegel says the US cut Turkey off from the intelligence data amid coalition fears that the Turkish military may use the intelligence information, including data accumulated by aircraft, satellites and drones, to plan operations against Kurdish militia forces in northern Syria. According to the outlet, the Pentagon’s step was a ‘slap in the face’ to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The US military’s change in policy on data-sharing effectively brought it closer to that of Germany, who has refrained from passing Bundeswehr intelligence from northern Syria and Iraq to the coalition’s Combined Air and Space Operations Centre out of fear that Turkey could use the information for purposes other than the fight against Daesh.
