The directive, which was published online on Monday, said the Nusra Front would refrain from fighting Isis in a swath of northern Syria in order to avoid indirectly aiding the US-led campaign against the terror group.
Advertisement
Turkish Parliament adopted the so-called Syrian mandate in 2012.
“Our understanding with Turkey is that they will not attack, and we would not agree to that”. “The control and protection of this region cleared of [ISIL] will be conducted by Syrian opposition forces and the necessary air defense and support for this … will be provided by the U.S. and Turkey“, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
The powerful Ahrar al-Sham rebel faction said the IS-free zone, planned along a stretch of border in the northern province of Aleppo, “is in the interest of the Syrian people“.
The airstrikes were carried out on Wednesday by Turkey-based F-16 fighter aircraft which took off from Incirlik Air Base near the Syrian border, the Pentagon announced in a brief statement on Wednesday, without providing further details.
Washington later dismissed Davutoglu’s claim that he was working with the US to establish a “safe area” in Syria where part of the civilians now seeking asylim in Turkey could return.
President Barack Obama, who has ruled out sending U.S. ground troops into combat in Syria or Iraq, is counting on defeating Islamic State fighters through local forces on the ground, bolstered by U.S. and allied airstrikes.
U.S. and Turkish forces would hit IS or Kurdish militants if they entered the safe zone, CNN Turk quoted Sinirlioglu as saying.
In response, U.S. State Department spokesperson Mark Toner categorically denied that statement.
Earlier in the year, Jabhat al-Nusra dismantled the US-supported Hazm Movement and the Syrian Revolutionaries’ Front, pursuing their members outside Turkey.
Turkey, which is clashing with Kurdish rebels tied to the ones in Syria, will probably use militant groups it’s been backing in Syria’s civil war to gather similar intelligence, said Unal, a former Turkish army officer. Other Kurdish fighters have been effective against the Islamic State. Using the Incirlik base outside the city of Adana drastically cuts the distance needed for the US jets to fly to Syria.
Islamic State militants on Tuesday released 22 Christians they had held captive since February, following mediation by tribal leaders, activists said. The bombing has resulted in Turkey joining the US coalition.
Advertisement
“Turkey’s air campaign damages the PKK, but is not sufficient to destroy it”, said Pinar Elman, Turkey analyst at the Polish Institute of global Affairs (PISM).
