1 | ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - U.S. drones and aircraft have begun arriving at a Turkish air base close to the border with Syria, and an "extensive" fight against Islamic State militants will soon begin, Turkey's foreign minister said Wednesday. |
2 | Syria's foreign minister said, meanwhile, that Damascus would support efforts against IS, as long as the fight is in coordination with the Syrian government. |
3 | Ending years of reluctance, Turkey late last month carried out airstrikes against IS targets in Syria and agreed to allow U.S. warplanes to use Incirlik Air Base for operations, taking a more front-line role in the U.S.-led coalition's fight against the extremists. |
4 | U.S. officials said the first armed drone missions out of Turkey began last weekend and that the military was planning to add manned aircraft flights from the country. |
5 | Officials said that so far, none of the drones had launched airstrikes, but they may begin soon. |
6 | Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting in Kuala-Lumpur, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the battle would begin soon, but didn't elaborate. |
7 | "As part of the agreement reached with the United States, we have made great strides on the technicalities of Incirlik's use and the U.S. aircraft have started to arrive," the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted him as telling reporters. |
8 | "Soon we will together start an extensive battle against Daesh." |
9 | He was using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group. |
10 | The Turkish minister also told reporters that once the "effective" fight has begun, the ground would become safer for moderate opposition forces fighting IS. |
11 | His comments came following reports that members of the Free Syrian Army who went through a U.S. training program to fight Islamic State militants were captured by the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front in Syria. |
12 | Syrian's state media quoted Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem as saying in Tehran on Wednesday said the fight against the IS should be coordinated with Syria. |
13 | "We are with any effort to fight Daesh as long as it is in coordination with the Syrian government otherwise it is an infringement on Syria's sovereignty," al-Moallem was quoted as saying by Syrian state TV. |
14 | Al-Moallem has been in Iran since Tuesday where he is believed to have been discussing an Iranian initiative to try to end Syria's four-year conflict that has killed more than 250,000 people. |
15 | According to the Lebanon-based pro-Syrian Al-Mayadeen TV the four-point Iranian initiative calls for an immediate cease-fire, formation of a national unity government, amending the constitution in what reassures ethnic and religious minorities and holding elections under the supervision of international observers. |
16 | Iran is Syria's strongest ally in the region and has backed Assad since the country's crisis began in March 2011. |