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| The Grand Turk |
| No Syria safe zone in US-Turkish air campaign deal |
| 2015-08-26 |
| [Rudaw] Washington and Ankara have finalized a deal that would fully integrate ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... into the coalition air campaign against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... (ISIS), US military officials announced Tuesday. "[The agreement is] an important development in the fight against ISIL," said Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook. "The United States and Turkey have finalized technical details for Turkey's full inclusion in the counter-ISIL coalition operations." Cook explained at a press briefing that the deal would bring the Turkish air force into "the coalition's air tasking order" and coordination on all air operations. The new deal did not make any reference to a safe zone inside Syria, which Turkey has been pursuing for almost two years. The US announcement came a day after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that a deal had been reached between the two countries. In recent months Washington has pressed Turkey to play a more active role in the war against ISIS by controlling its borders with Syria and increasing its bombing missions against the Death Eater group. "With respect to Turkey, we do want Turkey to do more in the fight against ISIS," said US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter last week. "We need them also as a neighbor to this conflict zone as a long time NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... ally and a responsible member of anti ISIL coalition to control the border. The long border they have with both Syria and Iraq," he added. Kurdish leaders are concerned that Turkey is seeking a safe zone in Syria to undermine their gains against ISIS northeast of the country known as Rojava, but the US State Department dismissed such fears, saying there is no plan for a safe zone. "We're not talking about preparations or plans for a zone of any kind," said State Dept. Spokesperson John Kirby. "What we said is where ISIL goes, the coalition's going to go. And right now, they tend to be up in that stretch along the northern border of Syria, southern border of Turkey, roughly west of the Euphrates." |
| Posted by:trailing wife |