Turkey Might Not Publicly Support US-Led Coalition Against IS

Turkey might find it difficult to openly support the US coalition against the Islamic State, as it fears that the terror group might get even by harming scores of Turks being held hostage.

The NATO Summit, held in Wales on September 4-5, focused all discussions mainly on Ukraine's crisis with Russia and the rising terror of the Sunni Jihadist group in the middle-east. And, two key decisions were taken by the world leaders at the summit.

The United States had been seeking allies to lead a coalition against the Islamic State, which was formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.

The coalition is being backed by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, Italy, Poland, Denmark and most likely Turkey too. The Islamist group has captured major territories in Iraq and Syria.

US President Barack Obama believes that a regional strategy could be devised soon to counter the Islamic State, but present and former US officials stated that they do not expect Turkey to play a major public role in the coalition, Reuters reports.

Turkish officials have refrained from directly supporting the U.S. airstrikes on IS that began last month, mostly because they are afraid that the IS will harm the 49 Turkish citizens who they kidnapped in June.

The IS militants kidnapped the group of Turks, which included diplomatic staff, special forces members and dependents, from the Turkish Consulate General in Mosul on June 11.

The Turkish government officials have ever since avoided doing or saying anything that will reflect on the fate of the hostages.

In this U.S.-led NATO "core coalition" - announced by the United States Friday at the NATO summit in Newport, Wales - Turkey is the sole Muslim nation which has vowed to fight the IS rebels in Iraq.

The U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel held a private meeting Friday with the foreign and defense ministers of the nine other countries that are participating in the coalition.

Extending U.S. efforts to build a coalition against IS, Hagel is set to visit Turkey this weekend, Today's Zaman reports.

 It is still not clear as to what extent the coalition will be targeting IS in Syria - the region where these Islamist militants believe they are safe.