Turkish state media has said life is returning to normal inside Jarabulus following the departure of IS, with shops re-opening and children playing in the streets.
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Turkish-backed militia have driven IS from the border town of Jarablus, but Turkey has also been concerned with checking the advance of Kurdish forces whom it regards as terrorists.
The pair also discussed Operation Euphrates Shield launched late last month by Turkey and agreed on the importance of eliminating Daesh and other terror groups along the Turkish border – the stated goal of the operation in northern Syria.
Ankara sees the opportunity for cooperation with the U.S. as a chance to kill two birds with one stone that will both hit Islamic State (IS formerly ISIS/ISIL) and Kurdish fighters, who they also consider terrorists. Russia, which backs the government in Damascus, said on Wednesday Ankara’s push south threatened Syria’s sovereignty.
Russian Federation is a major ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad while the United States backs rebels fighting to overthrow him.
As the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) took control of Manbij, a strategically important town controlled by ISIS until 12 August 2016, the apparent conflict between SDF and the US-lead global coalition backing them deterred any constructive movement on the ground.
Turkish forces invaded northern Syria two weeks ago with the support of the US-led coalition, seizing the border town of Jarabulus from Isis with little apparent resistance.
“From now on, we have to show that we exist in the region”.
And there’s more good news where that came from: Erdogan told U.S. President Barack Obama that he’s willing to, together with the U.S., launch an operation against ISIS’s Syrian capital of Raqqa. Four others were wounded, it said.
Without giving further details, he said: “What can be done will become clear after the discussions”.
Erdogan said he was ready to support such a plan, although he said a specific Turkish role would depend on further talks. The “Islamic State” (IS, ISIL, ISIS or Daesh), the YPG and the PYD are the most active terrorist groups in Syria.
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It lost most of the border to the Kurds, backed by intense United States airstrikes, over the past year.
