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

CIA interrogation report: Democrats want to punish America, blame Bush. In its ideological zeal to punish America , the outgoing Democratically- controlled Senate, plans to make public a report that, according to Fox News will examine "the alleged use of torture by the CIA." Although the 6,000 page full report will remain classified , the 500 page summary is expected to be released to the public in coming days . According to press reports from those who are familiar with the study, it is expected to portray the American intelligence community in the worst possible light . The report's release and details about CIA interrogations that took place a decade ago will endanger Americans abroad today, destroy essential relationships with foreign intelligence communities going forward, and cripple American human intelligence gathering networks for a generation . Put bluntly , Democrats in the Senate are behaving like tenants who got evicted and decide to trash the house on their way out the door . There is nothing to be gained by releasing the report . The CIA's actions in the immediate aftermath of September 11 attacks have long since ceased . Although President Obama has approved release of the report's summary , even Secretary of State John Kerry has warned that the report's release will put Americans and U.S  embassies at risk of retaliation . So why do this now? Perhaps Democrats in Congress think that by excoriating our intelligence community before the entire world they will expiate the sins of the previous administration . Yes, it's another chance it's to blame Bush! This is the apology tour on steroids . According to media reports, the report concludes that we tortured terrorists . These are the same terrorists who blew up the World Trade Center, bombed the Pentagon, and tried to level the U.S  Capitol . These are the same terrorists that today have beheaded Christians, Westerners and, just this past weekend, another American citizen . Think back to the days after September 11 . We were blind about Al Qaeda . Most Americans feared another attack was imminent . And the best legal advice in government said CIA actions to get that information were legal . So CIA officers did what they thought necessary to protect Americans . A decade later we're suddenly castigating them for it . Second ,  the report concludes that the intelligence gathered from CIA's actions wasn't effective . Yet that has been disputed by the very people in the Obama administration who used it to track down Usama bin Laden . To quote highly regarded former CIA Director Gen  Michael Hayden,"it is inconceivable to believe that three different CIA directors, and three different Deputy CIA directors, conspired over a seven year period to lie about the program's effectiveness . Third ,  there is a rule in foreign policy like the one in medicine . First ,  do no harm . Public release of this report will do immeasurable harm . It will encourage terrorists around the world to launch revenge attacks . It will cause foreign intelligence agencies to clam up and no longer cooperate with US intelligence for fear that their sources and method will be blown . It will cause every American intelligence officer to go into the defensive crouch -- don't stick your head out to protect America because years later somebody in government who wants to score political points will chop it off . Finally ,  take a lesson from history . We did this once before, in the 1970's , when presidential-hopeful Senator Frank Church launched a widespread investigation of the CIA . It didn't work , Senator Church's presidential aspirations never got off the ground . But his handiwork crippled American intelligence gathering for a generation . American agents overseas were killed , foreign intelligence agencies stopped sharing intelligence with us , our own human networks collapsed , and CIA officers played it safe and stopped thinking outside the box . This was one of the reasons a generation later we never knew about a bunch of Islamic extremists in a cave in Afghanistan plotting to take down the Twin Towers . Releasing the report to the public will do considerable harm to our efforts to gather essential intelligence about those hoping to do us harm . It will be a self-inflicted wound . The next time we are caught unprepared it won' t just be with 747s flying into buildings it could be with weapons too terrible to contemplate .
the outgoing Democratically- controlled Senate, plans to make public a report that, according to Fox News will examine "the alleged use of torture by the CIA."

Jim Murphy's mansion-tax boast is a cynical attempt to buy Scottish votes. We have now embarked on the longest general election campaign in the history of Britain . Even political obsessives quail at the thought . So I plead guilty to bringing a little genuine political debate into the process so early on in the process . The issue is the new Scottish Labour leader, Jim Murphy, and his vainglorious boast that he is going to use mansion tax money from London and the south-east to pay for 1,000 new nurses in Scotland . Let me stress that I support the mansion tax in principle . It is a redistributive tax , which is important , and taxes on assets are always worth considering . The complication is that it is, in effect, a tax on London, 80% of which will be paid by people in London and the south -east . And the distorted nature of London's housing market could mean a tax with wildly distorted effects . No one really knows how much it will raise . It seems likely that the people everyone agrees should pay it- the international super-wealthy - will use their expensive lawyers and accountants to evade it . But it will hit older Londoners, often public sector workers who bought houses in what were then unfashionable parts of London , as in my constituency, Hackney North and Stoke Newington . Now they are living in houses worth ? 1m and rising . They are often asset rich but cash poor . Having seen London house prices spiral in value , they are not reassured by the idea that the mansion tax kicks in only at? 2m . At the very least, a lot of work needs to be put in to reassure those voters, and to fashion a tax that will not hit those people unfairly . Fortunately the shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, has an open mind on the subject . That is why it is surprising that Murphy has jumped in feet first, boasting about how he will spend money from a tax when there is no agreement on exactly how it will be levied . I am a unionist , and I understand that the Labour party has a big electoral challenge in Scotland . But I cannot believe that Scottish voters will be taken in by a crude attempt to buy their votes with money expropriated from London . If Murphy is really interested in redistributing wealth , why isn't he talking about council tax revaluation or levels of income tax in Scotland? Instead he seeks cheap applause by telling the Scots how he will extract money from England . Recently there has been a series of reports, including from the London Finance Commission and the Royal Society of Arts City Growth Commission, calling for the devolution of powers to our great cities . In particular ,  experts are saying that big cities should be allowed to keep their property taxes - I believe that this process should start with the mansion tax . Devolution cannot be for Scotland alone ; there should also be devolution of powers to the cities and regions . Murphy cannot bully the rest of the UK about a considered devolution of fiscal powers to all our cities with a pre-emptive strike on the mansion tax . It is too easy to conflate London with bankers and the international glitterati . But London is more unequal than any other part of Britain . Child poverty is a third higher in London than the rest of England as a whole . So, general election campaign or not, we need a proper debate on devolution of powers to our great cities . It is part of the battle against the poverty that still exists in the shadow of the glittering towers of the City of London . And some people need to be prepared to stand up for London in this important debate .

The issue is the new Scottish Labour leader, Jim Murphy, and his vainglorious boast that he is going to use mansion tax money from London and the south-east to pay for 1,000 new nurses in Scotland