The U.S. has conducted its first strike on an Islamic State target by a drone flown out of a Turkish air base, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
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Also Wednesday, Syria’s foreign minister said Damascus would support efforts against ISIS, as long as the fight is coordinated with the Syrian government.
Earlier this week, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey and the U.S. had “made progress” on the use by American military jets of the strategic Incirlik Air Base.
Turkey Wednesday named a new chief of military staff as it takes on a more active role in the fight against ISIS.
“That deepening relationship between the United States and a Syrian Kurdish group that ultimately aims at creating an autonomous region in Syria really scared Turkey”, said Henri Barkey, director of the Middle East programme at the Woodrow Wilson worldwide Centre for Scholars. The Pentagon announced that they are planning on launching manned aircraft from the Turkish base in the future.
Meanwhile, Qatar has broken ranks with the Arab League to give close ally Turkey its full support for air strikes in northern Iraq, according to an official foreign ministry statement.
“The United States contacted us before they sent in this group and said they are fighting against Da’esh [ISIS] and not the Syrian army at all”, he said.
Washington has defended Turkey’s actions against the PKK, which is recognized as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union.
It also remains unclear exactly how the IS-free zone will be implemented and in particular which ground forces inside Syria will be used to ensure its security and drive out the jihadists. Instead, once they are trained they return to the Syrian rebel groups that the U.S. has been working with.
Although formally directed at IS and thus signalling Ankara’s belated entry to the US-led anti-IS coalition, many believe the primary goal of this campaign is to prevent territorial consolidation by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), and lay the basis for a safe haven for opposition fighters and refugees within a “buffer zone” on the Syrian side of the border.
Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Elissa Smith confirmed an attack on Friday by an “unknown force” on U.S.-trained Syrian forces and members of the 30th Division, in which she differentiated between the two groups.
Asked if it would be positive for Russian Federation to join the fight against Daesh given the country’s military capabilities, the spokesman said the U.S.is “very much engaged” with Russian Federation on these issues and the “possible way forward”.
Syrian rebels trained by American forces are refusing to fight Al Qaida’s affiliate in the country – the Nusra Front.
Despite previously refusing to confirm that the NSF was coming under fire due to its links with Washington, the Pentagon signalled a major policy shift this week when it said it would use airstrikes to defend its trainees from any attackers.
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The U.S. and Turkey signed an agreement on February 17 that allowed up to 1,000 U.S. troops to participate in the training in Turkey.
