Turkey Urges Air Support for Assault on IS-Held Syria Town
Turkey on Monday said it wanted international air support for its army's assault on the jihadist-held Syrian town of Al Bab where the military is facing tough resistance from Islamic State (IS) extremists.
Turkish forces have for weeks joined pro-Ankara Syrian rebels in fierce fighting for Al Bab, taking increasing casualties as they approach closer to the centre.
Turkey is part of the US-led coalition against IS jihadists in Syria and lets Western war planes use its Incirlik air base as a hub for air raids.
"As for our operations in Al Bab, the international coalition should assume its responsibilities, especially where air support is concerned," presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in televised comments in Ankara.
"The weather conditions can sometimes entail delays," Kalin acknowledged. "But the absence of air support when there is no valid reason is unacceptable," he added.
The US and its allies have been conducting their own air strikes against IS targets in Syria but there have been no reports of them specifically aiding the Turkish operation.
Turkey at the weekend deployed more tanks and artillery to the border and also has sent 500 elite commandos to Al Bab in readiness for a final fight for the town, reports said.
A Britain-based monitoring group has accused Turkey of killing 88 civilians in air strikes on Al-Bab. However the army has unequivocally denied such claims.
Thirty-six Turkish soldiers have died so far in the operation inside Syria -- dubbed Euphrates Shield -- since it was launched on August 24.
Islamic State jihadists last week circulated a video purportedly showing two Turkish soldiers captured by the extremists in Syria being burned alive.
The authenticity of the video cannot be confirmed and Turkey's leadership has made no mention of the images.
Turkey's Defence Minister Fikri Isik has said three Turkish soldiers are being held by IS, without giving further detail. The issue was evoked at Kalin's televised news conference but the spokesman did not give any comment.
Users in Turkey had reported severe problems with social media after the video emerged. However by Monday access to Twitter was fully restored after three days of disruption.
over 8 years
I respect Mr. Mystic because he sees how Erdogan fights and for that he can all but laugh.
over 8 years
Have some shame Mystic. Stop the lying for one day. Is that too much for you? The reality is that ISIS practices the same strategy as Assad: remove the middle ground to present their supposed constituancy with little choice. In this case, the Sunni Arab population. It is why they fiercely fight against FSA and they roll back against Kurdish and gornment forces in Al-bab area without a fight.
over 8 years
hahaha so now you admit that Turkey is indeed fighting ISIS and they are not allies but Turkey is weak and needs US help;)! You are a very lousy propagandist;)
over 8 years
The Turkish soldiers do not have the morale boost in fighting ISIS.
They feel as if they are fighting their own people.
You see how less determined they are here, than when they fought Kurds etc.
ISIS admires the Ottoman Empire and so does the Turkish army, even more after the great purge of the Turkish millitary ranks done by Erdogan.
The Iraqi army and Syrian Army for instance, does not have this burden thus the reason for their better engagement of ISIS etc.
over 8 years
the filthy shia iranian troll knows and understands blowback as if it is a science in politics;) What you post is indeed rabbish ya irani shoe.
over 8 years
lol galaxy, keep yelling "irani" and "shia" as if anybody cared, and as if they hadent been schooling you sectarian scumbags, whether israeli or takfiri, since ever. like a beaten dog you bark but you have no tooth habibi.
over 8 years
the very fact you call others "sectarian scumbag" takes you right out of the "decent human" box and straight into the "sectarian scumbag" one.
lol @mowateh, you and the scumbags you support and represent are all the same predictable kind of human trash.
over 8 years
I respect Mr. Flamethrower and Mr. Mowaten because they are interchangeable and answer on behalf of each other as one.
over 8 years
"keep yelling "irani" and "shia" as if anybody cared"
obviously you do because you are both iranian and shia.... and both descriptions hit a deep nerve and made you mad.
over 8 years
The same shia troll @flametroller who once said the following is now concerned about the voting;))))!
...flamethrower--
i cant believe you care about the voting!!!
and :
...flamethrower--
there are things much more important than your idiotic pursuit of popularity and how many votes you receive for being a sectarian moron.
over 8 years
Ask Russia, they're good at carpet bombing
over 8 years
so is Israel.... you remember dahieh in 2006?
over 8 years
well it was good enough ya irani for you to rush begging for a ceasefire like the cowards that you are instead of fighting to death and destroying ma ba3da haifa ya filth.
over 8 years
lol galaxy is confused between his sick fantasies and reality.
over 8 years
flamerotten; do you and your double the irani decide to appear exactly at the same time no matter what time of day or night it is?
over 8 years
lol
What happen to the 2 battalions of Tanks that could finish the whole war in Syria? Ya Erdogan.
Now you cry for America, people thought Turkey was becoming a new Ottoman Empire, but you are too weak for that.
Now that we see how you fight, we can all but laugh.