A source close to the operations said that the plan was to cut IS access to the Turkish-Syria border, driving the groups away from the border with airstrikes and allowing the US-trained forces to take back terrain on the ground. However, its aerial role in Syria has so far been limited to refueling and intelligence gathering.
Advertisement
The request from the US stems from its recognition that the base of the Islamic State forces must be attacked more effectively, and frequently. “We do need to have a strong military response to this organisation that doesn’t exempt us from also helping the victims of the (IS) organisation”.
Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek said she had no details of the request reported in The Australian.
The video comes at the height of a political crisis in Turkey, after Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu failed to form a coalition government following elections in June.
“I think the Turkish government understands our position on the YPG“, he added.
Treasurer Joe Hockey says there are processes for dealing with such requests.
A member of the U.S.-trained Syrian rebel forces says he expects to fight forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, even though they pledged only to combat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) order to participate the Pentagon program.
But he said that argument is controversial and does not have widespread support in the worldwide community.
‘It would be a disaster for Australia because what we have been seeing on an nearly daily basis is the continued lure that this terrorist group, that this incipient terrorist state, is providing to misguided and impressionable young Australians, ‘ he told reporters in Perth on Friday.
To combat the menace, the country has introduced new national security laws, raised its terror threat alert level to high last September, and conducted counter-terrorism raids in various cities, foiling several attacks. If there were to be operations over Syria it would not be much different to Iraq, although it was a significantly more hard environment, he said.
While the U.S. has the military objective of seeking a foothold for the fight against ISIS, Turkey has other preoccupations, including its concern about the possible emergence of another autonomous Kurdish stronghold on its border and the ongoing cost and management of an enormous refugee burden. Australian aircraft operate right up to the Iraq-Syria border but don’t intrude into Syrian airspace.
Rather, Johnston believes that leading airstrikes in Syria would not only threaten Australia’s mission but also put domestic safety at risk.
Advertisement
Turkish policy toward is Syria is part of a desire to “revive the Ottoman Empire”, Rama said accusingly.
