The train-and-equip program, jointly organized by the U.S. and coalition partners, is intended to help prepare Syrian opposition fighters in the campaign against Daesh, as part of the agreement signed by the U.S. and Turkey on February 17 to allow up to 1,000 U.S. troops to participate in the training in Turkey.
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The two North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies have been working on plans to provide air cover for Syrian rebels and to sweep Islamic State from land along the Turkish border.
Last month, it conducted aerial strikes against ISIL positions in Syria and agreed to let the U.S.-led coalition use its bases for its fight against ISIL.
Ankara, the capital of Turkey don not want to play an important role in fight against the terrorists who are torturing the nation from quite a while. It conducted its first strike out of Turkey against an Islamic State target in Syria on Tuesday.
Turkey’s Dogan news agency said three US fighter jets were seen taking off from Incirlik in the evening.
Toner said the U.S. continues to seek a peaceful resolution to the Syrian crisis that has claimed the lives of more than 211,000 victims and displaced millions. According to CNN, the air base shortens flight times for US fighter jets, particularly into Syria, compared to take off from bases in Iraq or aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf.
In July, Washington and Ankara have agreed to allow the U.S.to deploy aircraft at Incirlik airbase in southern Adana province of Turkey.
“In the end, it’s in their self-interest to let us use the base to strike ISIL”, the official said.
It is still unclear if the void left by the al-Qaeda linked group had contributed to the series of bombings in Turkey on Monday that targeted security forces and the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul. Division 30 is made up mostly of fighters from Syria’s Turkmen minority, and few other rebels had ever heard of it before it was attacked by the Nusra Front.
US and Turkish forces would hit Islamic State or Kurdish militants if they entered the safe zone, CNN Turk quoted Mr Sinirlioglu as saying.
The establishment of the zone, likely backed in some fashion by U.S. and Turkish forces, would represent a significant escalation in both countries’ involvement in the Syrian civil war.
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But the Turkish official said the anti-IS operations had been put on hold at Washington’s request so that they could be carried out jointly.
