Turkey is closely following developments in Syria and Davutoglu said last week that they don’t want to see “neither terrorist group nor [Syrian] regime atrocities” as he showed concerns about Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the pro-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD) and their “threatening ” ties.
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Security sources toldReuters that Turkey has strengthened its border, sending equipment and troops, including a number of special forces, to its border with Syria.
There are unconfirmed reports of a cross-border operation into Syria but military sources say putting boots on Syrian terrain is an unlikely scenario.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) ” Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has reappointed a 75-year-old former defense minister to the same post, to replace Ismet Yilmaz who was elected Turkey’s new parliament speaker this week. “If there’s any circumstance across the border that threatens Turkish security, orders to act have been given”, Davutoğlu confirmed.
Speculation has been swirling for days in Turkish media that the government is planning to intervene in Syria to push Islamic State jihadists back from the border and halt the advance of Kurdish forces who have made gains against the extremists in the area.
“We are continuing to work together to address the threat that poses to both our countries and many other countries as part of our joint effort”, he said at a reception in Ankara.
He told Reuters Turkey’s link to Aleppo was of critical importance and Ankara would act if Kurdish forces took control of Jarablus, a Syrian town just west of the Euphrates river across the border from Turkey’s Karkamis. He said that this option is technically possible, but “would greatly harm the people of Rojava who are fighting against the evil forces of ISIS”.
Turkey has repeatedly called for the creation of a security zone inside Syria to protect its borders.
“If anything occurred that were to threaten Turkish security, we wouldn’t wait for tomorrow, we would go right in”, Davutoglu added. Now there are 54,000 military personnel deployed along the border with Syria, corresponding to 15 percent of the Army’s total troop count.
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Davutoglu said Assad, whose forces and allied militias hold western districts of Aleppo, had been cooperating with ISIS militants in attacking the moderate opposition.
