While expressing support for a Turkish suggestion to set up a buffer zone on the Syrian-Turkish border near the embattled Kurdish town of Kobane, France said on Thursday that the situation was urgent and fraught with risks and all options must be examined concerning Kobane and the advance of Islamic …
Read More »French, Turkish FMs to discuss strategic cooperation
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will meet with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Kuwait Friday to discuss strategic cooperation between the two nations but the talks are certain to mainly focus on the ongoing struggle against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (IS) which is threatening security in the Middle East region …
Read More »US worried about Turkey, Kurd tensions amid Kobani
Even as it prods Turkey to step up in the global fight against Islamic State militants, the United States is worried that Ankara might use military action to target Kurdish fighters who are the last line of defence against extremists trying to take over the Syrian border town of Kobani. …
Read More »Turkey rejects solo ground action in Kobani
Islamic State fighters seized control of a third of the key Syrian border town of Kobane today, as Turkey rejected sending in troops on its own against the jihadists. IS militants advanced in the strategic town overnight despite intensified US air strikes, as calls grew for ground action to support …
Read More »France backs buffer-zone between Syria and Turkey
French President Francois Hollande Wednesday said he would back the creation of a buffer zone between Syria and Turkey to protect displaced civilians fleeing the bloody Daech offensive. Talking to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over phone, Hollande discussed the “alarming situation in northern Syria mainly in Kobani city” which …
Read More »New NATO chief to visit Turkey
Jens Stoltenberg, the new NATO secretary-general, is set to pay his first visit to Turkey since he took office on Oct. 1. Stoltenberg is expected to discuss security concerns posed to Turkey by the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Read More »Turkey holds security summit on IS
Turkey held a security summit on Wednesday as Islamic State (IS) militants were approaching the center of the Syrian border town of Kobane, a crisis that triggered violent protests across Turkey in which 19 people have been killed. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu convened the meeting in an effort to combat IS …
Read More »Erdogan says IS, PKK are the same
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist group is not different from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Saturday. “For us, the PKK is the same as ISIL. It is wrong to consider them as different from each other,” Erdoğan told reporters …
Read More »Turkey to send troops on ground in Syria only to target Assad regime
Ground troops can be used in the operation targeting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as part of a comprehensive strategy also targeting the Bashar al-Assad regime, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has reportedly said. Davutoğlu also reportedly said Turkey will join the coalition against ISIL “only with a …
Read More »Turkey, US discuss no-fly zone over Syria
Turkey reiterated to the U.S. on Friday the importance of a safe haven inside Syria and a no-fly zone in order to halt a massive Syrian refugee inflow into its territories where already 1.5 million people have sought refuge. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden discussed the terrorist …
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