Former House Intel chair: Turkey can't have it both ways in NATO
Mike Rogers, former chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, also sees economic pressure on Russia as presenting a “unique opportunity” for Moscow’s help in Syria.
WASHINGTON — Mike Rogers, who chaired the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence from 2011-2014, said this week that “we have to have a public discussion about Turkey’s role in NATO.”
In an exclusive telephone interview on Jan. 13, Rogers expressed dissatisfaction with Turkey’s unwillingness so far to allow the use of the Incirlik air base for US-led coalition airstrikes against terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq, saying that Turkey wants “all the benefits of NATO but they want none of the responsibility. I am very, very concerned that they’re trying to have it both ways. So we need to have that discussion.”
Rogers, who retired this month after representing Michigan’s 8th District in the House of Representatives since 2001, was “extremely cautious” about any positive shift in Iranian behavior, describing Iran as the “No. 1 malign influence in the region.”
“You get in bed with Iran and somebody’s not going to get a good night’s sleep,” he said. “Sometimes the enemy of your enemy is still your enemy. Iran has no interest in turning a new leaf.”
