The Turkish president said that the new military operation will start in the Syrian city of Raqqa, which is also the main stronghold of ISIS in Syria.
Advertisement
More than 250 Syrians, including women and children, arrived at a sports complex in the Turkish border town of Karkamis for registration early on Wednesday, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu agency said.
Mr Erdogan’s comments on Raqqa were published in Turkish media.
“Obama wants to do some things together concerning Raqqa in particular, ” he was quoted by the Hurriyet newspaper as saying. “We said this would not be a problem from our perspective”.
Meanwhile, Syria’s opposition set out detailed plans yesterday for the transition to a democratic state without President Bashar al-Assad ahead of talks with ministers of EU, US and regional powers in London.
Ousting IS from the city would be a turning point in the conflict and mark a huge blow to the jihadists. “We did so in Jarablus, and are still doing so”, the Turkish leader said, adding that a joint plan of action with the USA had been worked out previous year on the sidelines of the last G20 summit, which was held in Antalya, Turkey.
While Washington says Turkish attacks on Kurdish-aligned militias damaged a coalition fighting the IS, Russia said Ankara’s southwards push could complicate worldwide efforts to reach a peace deal. Turkey’s tanks, elite troops and allied Syrian militiamen swept into Jarablus without a fight as IS fighters, who had been warned ahead of the operation, fled, taking with them several hundred civilian hostages.
He said the operation against IS “could gain some degree of depth” with Turkey still pressing for a no-fly zone on the Syrian side of the border.
An Islamic State rocket attack on a Turkish tank north of al-Bab killed 3 Turkish soldiers and wounded four others in Syria on Tuesday, the military said.
“If what the Russians and the Americans agree upon is very much different from what the Syrians aspire to, then we shall not accept it”, said Riad Hijab of the HNC.
Turkish military on August 24 started a cross-border operation against the Islamic State terrorist group and Kurdish groups related to the Kurdistan Workers Party, which Ankara labels as a terror organization.
Advertisement
President Erdogan added: “At this stage we have to show our presence in the region”. “We do not have the chance to take a backward step”. The report could not be independently verified and it was not clear how it was determined that chlorine gas was released.
