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Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Turkish PM Davutoglu: We oppose ISIL and Assad

10 October 2014 Friday

"Turkey opposes the ISIL as much as the Assad regime in Syria," Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Friday.

But Davutoglu rejected as "funny" a motion from the main opposition party to put Turkish 'boots on the ground' at Kobani, also known as Ayn al-Arab, the Syrian border town under attack by ISIL.  

Opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu made the motion in parliament on Thursday. The motion proposes ground troop operations by the Turkish army against ISIL that would be limited to the Kobani region. The opposition has, however, rejected a separate motion that would allow foreign troops to operate on Turkish territory.

Davutoglu spoke to reporters after visiting the Police Chief Atalay Urker of the eastern Bingol province, who was wounded in an attack on Thursday.

The Turkish parliament accepted a government motion on October 2 authorizing military action in Syria and Iraq against any terrorist group, including ISIL.

US senators back Turkey

Meanwhile, U.S. Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham have voiced support for Turkey over Ankara's policy towards the besieged town of Kobani.

Their comments, released on their official website on Thursday, came after 31 people died in a series of illegal pro-Kurdish protests across Turkey, amid accusations the government was failing to act against the ISIL to save the mainly Kurdish-populated Syrian town on the border with Turkey.

The two US senators released a statement saying they backed Turkey’s Kobani strategy and its policy towards Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

They said: "The growing criticism of Turkey for not acting to save Kobani does not reflect the reality on the ground that both ISIS and Bashar al-Assad must be defeated."

"We certainly believe Turkey should play a greater role in the fight against ISIS, and we have disagreed in recent years with some of Turkey’s policies and actions in the Middle East, especially on Israel and the management of its border with Syria."

They went on: "In this instance, however, President Erdogan has said that we need an international strategy not just to destroy ISIS, but also to force Assad to leave power and end the conflict in Syria – for the former objective cannot succeed without the latter."

"This strategy, Erdogan has said, must include the establishment of safe zones in Syria for civilians and opposition forces, protected by no-fly zones – a strategy we have long advocated and continue to believe is vital to success in both Syria and Iraq."

The US senators also stressed that many other friends and allies in the Middle East shared their view.

"We are confident that, if President Obama adopted a strategy which took the steps that Turkish leaders are advocating to deal with Assad as well as ISIS, he would have significant support from our regional partners, including Turkish military involvement, which can be so important to success," they said.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/145929/turkish-pm-davutoglu-we-oppose-isil-and-assad.

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