MIDEAST-CRISIS/TURKEY U.S., Turkey to launch "comprehensive" anti-Islamic State operation
Record ID:
142747
MIDEAST-CRISIS/TURKEY U.S., Turkey to launch "comprehensive" anti-Islamic State operation
- Title: MIDEAST-CRISIS/TURKEY U.S., Turkey to launch "comprehensive" anti-Islamic State operation
- Date: 24th August 2015
- Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (AUGUST 24, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER MEVLUT CAVUSOGLU WORKING AT DESK INTERVIEW UNDERWAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER, MEVLUT CAVUSOGLU, SAYING: "We agreed with the United States to have better operation or joint operation against Daesh (Arabic acronym for Islamic State of Iraq and Levant), and we signed a deal and the technical talks have been concluded, these days and yesterday. And soon we will start this operation, comprehensive operations against Daesh." HANDS OF CAVUSOGLU (SOUNDBITE) (English) TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER, MEVLUT CAVUSOGLU, SAYING: "When we eradicate Daesh from the region, the Assad regime will receive the message as well, and they can go back to the negotiating table for the political solution. And we see this actually, not will, but the process, the political process, or increased efforts for the political transformation in Syria." HANDS OF CAVUSOGLU (SOUNDBITE) (English) TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER, MEVLUT CAVUSOGLU, SAYING: "We prefer that the moderate opposition forces actually control the safe zones or Daesh-free areas in the northern part of Syria, not PYD, unless they change their policies radically in that sense." CAVUSOGLU'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (English) TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER, MEVLUT CAVUSOGLU, SAYING: "So Iran has better dialogue with many western countries and that is what Turkey fully supports. But the situation in Syria, or in the region including Yemen, and Iraq, in the whole region, is totally different than the nuclear deal. What we expect from Iran is a more constructive role in Syria and Iraq, and in Yemen." CAVUSOGLU'S HANDS VARIOUS OF CAVUSOGLU SHAKING HANDS WITH REPORTERS
- Embargoed: 8th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Turkey
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA4CHKNHX163IA6DHYLOLPPLLOI
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Turkey and the United States will soon launch "comprehensive" air operations to flush Islamic State fighters from a zone in northern Syria bordering Turkey, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Reuters on Monday (August 24).
Detailed talks between Washington and Ankara on the plans were completed on Sunday (August 23), and regional allies including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan, as well as Britain and France may also take part, Cavusoglu said in an interview.
"The technical talks have been concluded, yesterday, and soon we will start this operation, comprehensive operations, against Daesh (Islamic State)," he said.
The United States and Turkey plan to provide air cover for what Washington judges to be moderate Syrian rebels as part of the operations, which aim to flush Islamic State from a rectangle of border territory roughly 80 km (50 miles) long, officials familiar with the plans have said.
Diplomats say cutting Islamic State's access to the Turkish border, across which it has been able to bring foreign fighters and supplies, could be a game-changer. U.S. jets have already begun air strikes from Turkish bases in advance of the campaign.
Cavusoglu said the operations would also send a message to President Bashar al-Assad and help put pressure on his administration to come to the negotiating table and seek a political solution for Syria's wider war.
"When we eradicate Daesh from the region, the Assad regime will receive the message as well, and they can go back to the negotiating table for the political solution. And we see this actually, not will, but the process, the political process, or increased efforts for the political transformation in Syria," he said.
Separately, the Turkish foreign minister said he welcomed the normalisation of Iran's relations with some Western countries in the wake of its nuclear deal, but said Tehran now needed to take a "more constructive role" in regional crises including Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Turkey's military operations against Kurdish militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey, where Ankara has been carrying out air strikes over the past month, would continue until the group laid down its weapons, Cavusoglu also said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None