The Turkish government has confirmed that its warplanes have
launched attacks on targets inside neighboring Syria said to be the
positions of ISIL Takfiri terrorists.
On Friday, a
government statement said that three F-16 fighter jets had departed from
the Diyarbakir Airbase, located in southeastern Turkey.
The
statement also said that the army had used smart bombs to target three
positions across the Turkish border province of Kilis, after one of its
soldiers was killed in an attack from an area inside Syria.
The
decision to launch the aerial attacks was made at a meeting of security
officials in Ankara late Thursday chaired by Turkish Prime Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu.
"In this context.... an operation was carried out
against targets belonging to Daesh (ISIL) inside the Syrian border,"
the statement said.
"Three of our F-16s hit... three targets
belonging to Daesh," it said, adding that "the government of the Turkish
Republic is determined to take the necessary measures to protect
national security." The targets, according to an official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, were two command centers and a gathering point of ISIL supporters.
The official claimed that the Turkish jets had not violated Syria's airspace.
US given Turkish bases for Syria strikes
Meanwhile,
Turkey has agreed to allow the United States to use a base in the
country’s eastern region to launch airstrikes on Syrian territories.
On
Thursday, an unnamed American official said Ankara had granted
Washington permission to target ISIL militant positions in neighboring
Syria.
"Access to Turkish bases such as Incirlik Airbase will
increase the coalition's operational efficiency for such counter-ISIL
efforts," said a US defense official speaking on the condition of
anonymity. This
September 1, 2013, file photo shows a US Air Force plane taking off
from the Incirlik Airbase, in southern Turkey. (AP photo)
Turkish
National Council Spokesman Alistair Baskey also said his country and
the US had decided to deepen cooperation in the fight against ISIL,
after holding “consultations about ways we can further our joint
counter-ISIL efforts.”
However, White House spokesman Josh Earnest
said he was not allowed to reveal details on the agreement over
“specific operations security concerns.”
Turkish media are now referring to the issue as the first direct clashes between Ankara and the Takfiri militants.
On
July 22, US President Barack Obama and his Turkish counterpart Recep
Tayyip Erdogan announced their agreement to work together in an attempt
to secure the Turkish border with Syria and to control the movement of
ISIL militants in the region.
The move came after the killing
of 32 people in a bomb blast, reportedly claimed by ISIL, which targeted
activists planning to help in the reconstruction of the Kurdish Syrian
town of Kobani, in the Turkish town of Suruc, on July 20. People
carry coffins of victims Duygu Tuna, Ismet Seker and Cemil Yildiz on
July 22, 2015 in the Gazi district of Istanbul during their funeral,
after a bomb attack killed at least 32 in the southern Turkish town of
Suruc. (AFP photo)
Turkey, along with
some other regional countries, has been widely accused of supporting the
Takfiri militants in Syria as part of a broader Western plot for the
overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since March 2011.
izvor/presstv.com
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