It also came as Turkey, after months of negotiations, finally gave the green light for the U.S.to use a key air base in its south for its air strikes against the terror group.
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‘In this context…an operation was carried out against targets belonging to Daesh inside the Syrian border, ‘ the statement said, using an Arabic acronym for the group.
A Turkish police officer was shot and killed and a second wounded on Thursday in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir in the latest in a series of attacks that began with a suicide bombing blamed on Islamic State, security sources said.
Mr. Davutoglu told reporters that Turkey was ready to respond to all threats and said he would meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday for an emergency meeting to discuss the operation.
“Turkey can not stand by as Kurdish, Leftist and Islamic State militants target Turkey“, said Mr Davutoglu. “The slightest movement threatening Turkey will be retaliated against in the strongest way possible”. In the last six months, Turkish officials say, more than 500 people suspected of working with IS have been detained. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of government rules requiring prior authorization for comment, said the targets were two command centers and a gathering point of IS supporters.
In the Turkish village of Beylerbeyi on the Syria border, near the scene of Thursday’s clashes between the military and IS militants, an AFP correspondent described the situation as peaceful.
But the Islamic State group still controls wide swaths of northern and western Iraq and northern Syria just across the border from Turkey.
Police rounded up more than 250 people in raids against suspected Islamic State and Kurdish militants in Friday’s raids, the prime minister’s office said, adding it was determined to fight all “terrorist groups” equally.
Davutoglu added that 297 suspects including 37 foreigners have been detained in 16 provinces during nationwide anti-terror raids.
Once used in raids against former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, the base is near to Turkey’s long border with Syria, and significantly narrows the distance to the IS stronghold of Raqqa. He was speaking after the Turkish warplanes struck ISIS objectives in Syria and a vast sweep-up operation was conducted across the country.
One woman was killed in a gunfight with police during a raid on an apartment in Istanbul.
“Elements of the Turkish Air Force will also be tasked with the same objective in these operations”, the ministry said, noting that the operations are part of a deal with the US.
Turkey and the U.S. would take “concrete steps” in the upcoming days in line with the agreement, Davutoglu said.
Davutoğlu also denied news reports claiming that Turkey had informed the Syrian Bashar al-Assad regime of the bombing in advance, but said that Turkish officials had contacted North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies before the strikes.
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The statement mentioned this week’s deadly attacks in Turkey, including in Sanliurfa’s Suruc town that killed at least 32 people and the recent killing of a Turkish army officer in Kilis.
