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No chance Turkey will be 'kicked out of NATO'

Turkey’s importance for the alliance remains despite differences while a former ambassador says NATO has no rules for “kicking anyone out.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg (C) of Norway meets with U.S. soldiers during his visit to view the U.S. Patriot missile system at a Turkish military base in Gaziantep, southeastern Turkey, October 10, 2014. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR49NYY

The US-led fight against the Islamic State (IS), and in particular the battle for Kobani, the predominantly Kurdish town in northern Syria that is shouting distance from the Turkish border, has turned into a “stress test” for Turkey’s NATO membership, if one is to go by some Western opinion-makers.

These opinion-makers continue to push the theme that Ankara is not doing its share in fighting IS, if not aiding and abetting IS against the Kurds, and should therefore be given notice that its value as a member of the Western alliance is rapidly diminishing.

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