Your task is to extract the thesis of an opinionated news article by selecting some of its text segments. The thesis is a summarization of what the author wants to persuade the reader of. Your answer should consist of segments of the given text. Note that you are not allowed to combine different sentences.

Let's see Turkey for what it really is. How times have changed . In the 18th century, Russian meddling in Crimea and Syria would have likely led to war with Turkey . Today, Russia's actions in the former Ottoman world mean a state visit for Russian President Vladimir Putin, discounted natural gas, and lucrative trade deals . Turkey's recent coziness with Russia, and its reluctance to take on the ISIL, have left many politicians in the West confused and frustrated . However , to understand Turkish foreign policy one must first look at US and European foreign policy . The lack of any coherent US-Middle East policy has made Turkey reluctant to respond to ISIL in any meaningful way . US President Barack Obama's disinterest in the region began with his hell-bent desire to remove all US forces from Iraq, no matter what the security situation was like . As far as Ankara was concerned, the US left behind unfinished business in Iraq . Next came the US response to the so-called Arab Spring , which amounted to telling regional autocrats that they had to go , and when they did not leave, the US failed to do anything about it . Perhaps the biggest failure of Obama's Middle East policy was drawing a "red line", and then failing to enforce it when Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against his own people . Pushing Turkey away . Since Turkey does not believe the US will see through to the completion of its mission to take on ISIL and force Assad out of power , understandably, Ankara has been reluctant to come on board . As far as Ankara is concerned, US creditability in the Middle East is bankrupt . It is not just US foreign policy pushing Turkey away from the West . This week, the EU's new foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, visited Ankara and told a group of journalists that the EU's "top priority will be Turkey's EU accession process" . After years of delays by Brussels, it is not likely anyone in Turkey will believe these words - nor should they . Europe's empty promises of EU membership, and its weak response over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has forced Turkey to hedge its bets that closer ties with Moscow are preferable to those with Brussels . Making a bad situation worse is the degree of European xenophobia lurking inside the debate around Turkish membership of the EU . Make no mistake ; Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not been the easiest leader for the West to work with . Apart from some of his more ridiculous, but harmless statements -"Muslim sailors reached the American continent 314 years before Columbus, in 1178" - many in the West have been put off by his crackdown on political dissent, limitations on press freedom, and his drive to bring a more conservative brand of Islam into what is still a largely secular society . Leaders in the West would be wise not to dismiss Turkey altogether because of Erdogan's ironfisted leadership style . Turkey is a parliamentary democracy , but as the president, Erdogan derives his extensive powers because his Justice and Development Party (AKP) currently controls parliament . Without an AKP majority in parliament, the centre of power in Turkish politics is likely to shift back to the prime minister's office . In June, Turkey will hold its next parliamentary elections - and if the elections are anything like Turkey's 2014 presidential elections , the race will be close . If the AKP does not get a majority, or if they have to form a coalition , Erdogan's power and influence will be significantly curtailed . Turkey is situated in a dangerous neighbourhood . It has land borders with Syria, Iraq, and Iran . Its border with Armenia is closed . A recent investigation uncovered a terror organisation operating inside Turkey with links to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps . ISIL controls huge swaths of land along the Turkish border with Syria and Iran . The threat from Assad is so great that NATO currently provides air defence units to protect Turkish airspace . It is clear that foreign policy decisions taken by the US and Europe have left Turkey feeling exposed . Short-sighted leaders in the West need to open their eyes and see Turkey for what it really is: a valued NATO partner, a secular state (at least for now) bridging Europe and the Islamic world, a developing economy and a major player in the energy market . What a tragedy it would be if broken promises from Europe, combined with a lack of US leadership and strategy in the Middle East, results in a Turkey that becomes more fundamentalist, anti-western, and pro- Russian .
Turkey's recent coziness with Russia, and its reluctance to take on the ISIL, have left many politicians in the West confused and frustrated

Nigeria's old impeachment games. Recently the former president labelled many Nigerian federal legislators as thieves and looters . According to him, they indulge in extorting money from departments, contractors and ministries . "When the guard is the thief," Obasanjo lamented," only God can keep the house safe and secure." With what is presently playing out at the National Assembly of Nigeria, Obasanjo may be right after all . Currently, some lawmakers are purportedly plotting to remove President Goodluck Jonathan from office . About 65 out of 109 Senators are reportedly involved in the plot . These anti-Jonathan lawmakers have told whoever cared to listen that they would table the president's sins on December 16, 2014 when they reconvene from their current recess . Chief among the president's reported sins are failure to contain the raging insurgency in the north; refusal to sign some bills; and alleged unauthorised expenditure of 1.7 trillion Naira (about $9.5bn) on the oil subsidy fund in 2011 . True, the security situation in the country is not palatable , but it has always been so since 2009 when Boko Haram started its violent uprising . No doubt, the president needs to demonstrate that he is capable of putting the terrorists to rout . But then , why are the senators just waking up to the existential realities in Nigeria? Why are they just discovering that the president spent more than what was approved for the oil subsidy fund in 2011? The point is, the lawmakers desperately need financial and political support to pursue their campaigns for the general elections coming up in February 2015 . And the best way to get this, I suspect, is to blackmail the president with impeachment or removal . In a bid to retain his seat, the president is supposed to calm them down by greasing their palms and supporting their bids for re-election . For many Nigerians, the legislators are actually acting true to type . In August 2002, when the nation was preparing for the 2003 general elections, the National Assembly waved the impeachment flag against the then President Obasanjo . The lower chamber, the House of Representatives, gave the him an ultimatum to resign within two weeks or be removed . They accused Obasanjo of incompetence and abuse of office . At the end of the day, the so-called impeachment turned out to be a storm in a teacup . It has become a tradition that whenever the lawmakers want anything done in their favour, they arm-twist the executive with threats of probes or impeachment . But most of the probes end up an exercise in futility . Nobody is punished . No credible result is released . In 2009, the then Special Adviser on Petroleum to the president, Dr Emmanuel Egbogah, alleged that oil companies took some senators to Ghana to feed and bribe them to oppose the oil and gas reforms being initiated by the federal government . Naturally, the senators were angry . They called for a probe of the allegations . Senate President David Mark thundered then,"There is going to be a serious public hearing... because when people begin to beckon at their whims and caprices to label us in the way they want, we should take it seriously." Nothing concrete came out of this . There was also a probe of the power sector reforms undertaken by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo . The Ndudi Elumelu-led committee of the House of Representatives that probed the rot in the power sector spent millions of Naira in the course of conducting their investigations . They turned in many volumes of the report on the probe . At the end, the House set up an ad hoc committee to review the report . Of course ,  the review committee dropped the probe report . It reportedly accused the Elumelu panel of lacking understanding of the nature of power sector contracts . Hence ,  it exonerated the Obasanjo-led government of mismanaging funds for power projects . The rot in this power sector is still haunting Nigerians up until today . Undoubtedly, our lawmakers are incurable lawbreakers . Sometimes, they engage in physical combat in the chambers . Sometimes, their unruly behaviour leaves even children wondering why such supposedly mature individuals have become soup-guzzling elders . They collect jumbo pay only to pass a few bills and devote most of their time in shadow-boxing . A good number of these legislators, for instance, never sponsored any bill since they were elected . Some care less about the interest of their constituents and don't report back to them . They have also failed in their oversight of ministries and government agencies . The House has committees in charge of different government ministries . But what some members of these committees do, sometimes, is to demand monetary inducement to pass the budget of these ministries . In fact ,  money is the name of the game . Last year, The Economist of London reported that Nigerian legislators were about the highest paid in the world . According to the newspaper, with the basic salary of $189,500 per annum, the Nigerian legislator earns 116 times the country's Gross Domestic Product per capita of $1,600 . Still ,  many of the legislators frequently agitate for increase in their already bloated salaries and allowances . For instance ,  in 2010, some members of the House of Representatives, not satisfied with their personal quarterly allocation of 27.2 million Naira ($153,000), wanted their quarterly allocation increased to 42 million Naira ($234,000) for each of them . The budget of the House could not accommodate it then . Hence ,  the lawmakers reportedly suggested collapsing the capital budget of the House to take care of their request . It would serve the Nigerian nation better if the job of the lawmakers is on a part-time basis and their salaries are drastically cut . That way, many of them will not find it attractive to contest the position for the sake of the lucrative pay, not to mention thinking of issuing threats they will never carry through .
 many of the legislators frequently agitate for increase in their already bloated salaries and allowances Chief among the president's reported sins are failure to contain the raging insurgency in the north; refusal to sign some bills; and alleged unauthorised expenditure of 1.7 trillion Naira (about $9.5bn) on the oil subsidy fund in 2011

Let the Iraqi Army have its day. On January 6, Iraq will hold its annual Army Day parade in Baghdad . The ceremony evokes mixed feelings amongst Iraqis : after all ,  the parade marches under massive crossed swords wielded by giant bronze hands modelled on those of Saddam Hussein himself . For the Kurds it is an ominous ritual, a leftover from an era when Baghdad's military power far outstripped that of the Kurds and when Iraqi state power was used ruthlessly against northern rebellions . The stronger the Iraqi army gets, the Kurds reckon, the more chance it will be used against Kurdistan again . Iraq's Sunnis were the leading force within the Iraqi army since its foundation on January 6, 1921 . In general ,  the Sunnis fondly remember the pre-2003 army as a national institution of unrivalled prestige but view today's Iraqi army as a weak shadow of its former self, dominated by Shia officers . The views of Iraq's Shia community may be more complex . Before 2003, the Iraqi military was regularly used as a tool of oppression against the Iraqi Shia , yet many older Shia also remember the army as a symbol of modernity and Arab nationalist pride . With a Shia-led government in Baghdad, young Shia were beginning to recognise the army as a friendly institution . The collapse of Iraqi army divisions in northern and western Iraq in June 2014 dented the army's reputation, with recent victories being credited to the predominately-Shia popular mobilisation militias (al-Hashd al-Shaabi) or else the tiny cadre of special forces - the so-called Golden Division . This is a critical year for the Iraqi army , which is in danger of losing its status as the nation's premier armed force . In 2009, when the US-led"train and equip" effort reached its zenith, the Iraqi army fielded 55 combat brigades with approximately 210,000 troops . The Iraqi Ministry of Interior (MoI) fielded around 30 smaller brigades, totaling around 120,000 troops . Today the Iraqi army fields 40 weak brigades with a total combat strength of around 48,000 troops . In contrast ,  the MoI survived the summer comparatively well and now fields 24 brigades, totaling around 36,000 troops . The gap has narrowed between the two security ministries . In addition to the army and MoI, there are two other security forces that are on the rise . One is the Popular Mobilisation forces , which seem to field approximately 100,000 troops, including a well-trained offensive cadre of around 20,000 fighters . The final potential force is the National Guard that is being considered as an option by Iraqi politicians . This force would, in theory, be trained, equipped and paid by the federal government, whilst being recruited and operated by the provincial councils . In a step towards this concept, a 5,000-strong US-equipped Tribal Security Force brigade has been provided with $13.5 million worth of US weapons and training in the new US Department of Defense budget . It is now up to Iraq's government whether the country will pay these troops as part of the first National Guard units in the forthcoming 2015 budget . It is also unclear exactly which ministry would administer the training, equipping and paying of National Guard troops: the US-backed Ministry of Defense (MoD) under Minister Khalid al-Ubeidi, a Sunni from Mosul, or the MoI, led by Badr leader Mohammed Ghabban, a close lieutenant of Badr leader Hadi al-Amiri . The scheme could become a way of permanently employing the Popular Mobilisation forces in the National Guard units of the predominately-Shia southern provinces . With the Kurdish Peshmerga representing another large force of around 54 brigades with 113,000 troops, the Iraqi army is thus on-track to become one of the smaller security forces in Iraq . In 2015, the army's performance and the international support provided to Iraq's MoD will be critical factors in determining the future of this proud institution . In the background, the slow process of rebuilding the army has already begun . New half-manned brigades are popping up at training bases in Nasiriya, Kirkush and at the collection points for the shattered army divisions across north- central Iraq . More units will follow in the coming months . Meanwhile a US-funded $1.6 billion train and equip programme will aim to produce a further nine full-strength Iraqi army brigades in 2015, adding a further 45,000 troops to the army and nearly doubling its frontline combat strength . (Three Peshmerga brigades or 15,000 troops will also be re-equipped under the programme) . The first of 250 US-provided Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles have arrived in Iraq, sent directly by the United States at no cost from Afghanistan . Another 3,496 tactical vehicles (Hummers, trucks, fuel tankers and engineering vehicles) will also be provided to the Iraqi army cost-free by the US military , and Iraq will probably buy a further 1,000 newly-built M1151A1 up-armoured Hummers in 2015 . If the US follows through on its pledges of training and equipment , the Iraqi army could survive its disastrous year in 2014 and play a key role in the struggle to evict Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) forces from cities like Mosul, Tikrit, Ramadi and Fallujah . The Iraqi army can draw on some illustrious history . In 1973, it deployed 18,000 troops with 300 tanks to save Damascus during the "October War" : this feat, mustering and moving an army 1,200km in just six days, remains deeply impressive . Iraq's five lightning offensives in April, May and June of 1988 shattered the Iranian army and were textbook examples of planning and execution . If the Iraqi army can be rebuilt with Shia, Sunni Arab and Kurdish political support , and if the well-led Ministry of Defense can guide the National Guard initiative , the coming year could witness new Iraqi army victories at Mosul . Successful operations undertaken by this national institution, with deep roots in the Iraq's history, will be far more beneficial to the country than victories scored solely by Shia militias or local Sunni uprisings, either of which could further fracture Iraq .

On January 6, Iraq will hold its annual Army Day parade in Baghdad