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High stakes for Erdogan in fight against IS

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan turns hawkish on the Islamic State, but he is aware that the stakes are high if Ankara joins the war against the group.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) leave a meeting at the president's office in Ankara September 12, 2014. Kerry met Turkish leaders on Friday to try to win support for U.S.-led military action against Islamic State, but Ankara's reluctance to play a frontline role showed the difficulty of building a coalition for a regional war.   REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR460SA
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Newly elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan never made it a secret that he intends to exercise executive powers as president, even if Turkey does not have a presidential system, and has started to do this with regard to combating the Islamic State (IS).

Like Turgut Ozal, who was the Turkish president during the 1990-91 Gulf War, Erdogan has effectively taken the reins of power and is making policy.

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