Like many villagers along this stretch of Turkey’s 900 km (560-mile) border, Ozdemir welcomed the arrival of additional Turkish soldiers to bolster security in recent days but fears the consequences if they cross into Syria and intervene.
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The security sources said the fighting in Azaz was between hardline Islamic State militants and a joint force of al Qaeda’s Syrian offshoot Nusra Front and Western-backed rebels who have been clashing in north Aleppo countryside in recent weeks.
Speculations were further heightened by the visit of Special Forces commander Zekai Aksakalli to the southern border province of Kilis where he inspected a newly deployed convoy of artillery and missile batteries according to Anatolia reports.
Asked whether Turkey could create a “buffer zone” inside Syria, United States ambassador to Turkey John Bass said that Washington and Ankara had a “shared concern” about the presence of IS in northern Syria.
“Islamic State (militants) are here”.
Turkey has been routinely criticised by the global community for its failure to secure its border with Syria and prevent jihadists entering the country to join radical groups, or from travelling the other way to reach Europe.
“It’s correct that we have taken precautions to protect our border”.
The Associated Press reported that Syrian government forces mounted heavy air strikes against rebel positions in and around Aleppo on Friday, the day after a major Islamist-led offensive on areas of the city controlled by Assad’s forces. The meeting is expected to be centered on an operation inside Syria even though Prime Minister Davutoglu ruled out intervening there because the move could put Turkey at risk and threaten its security. But the prospect of Turkish involvement in Syria’s conflict remains deeply unpopular. “If there’s any circumstance across the border that threatens Turkish security, orders to act have been given”, Davutoğlu confirmed. “They make throat-cutting gestures”, said Halil Kocaaslan in the village of Karanfilkoy, close to Karkamis.
“The people of Jarablus fled to Turkey”.
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“At a critical time [dealing with the terrorist threat in neighboring Syria], we prefer somebody whose knowledge and experience we trust and who worked with the TSK [Turkish Armed Forces] in the past”, Davutoglu said.
