Turkey and the US will soon launch “comprehensive” air operations to flush Islamic State fighters from a zone in northern Syria bordering Turkey, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday said.
Detailed talks between Washington and Ankara on the plans were completed on Sunday, 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.
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.
“Our aim should be eradicating Daesh from both Syria and Iraq, otherwise you cannot bring stability and security ... But eliminating the root causes of the situation (in Syria) is also essential, which is the regime of course,” Cavusoglu said.
He also made clear that Syrian Kurdish PYD militia forces, which have proved a useful ally on the ground for Washington as it launched air strikes on Islamic State elsewhere in Syria, would not have a role in the “safe zone” that the joint operations aim to create, unless they changed their policies.
Ankara is concerned that the PYD and its allies aim to unite Kurdish cantons in northern Syria and fear those ambitions will stoke separatist sentiment among its own Kurds.
“Yes, the PYD has been fighting Daesh ... But the PYD is not fighting for the territorial integrity or political unity of Syria. This is unacceptable,” Cavusoglu said.
Critics say Turkey is using what it calls its “synchronised war on terror,” including its greater role in the US-led coalition against Islamic State, as a cover to stem Kurdish political and territorial ambitions.
