Turkey and US ‘agree in principle’ to provide air support for Syrian rebels
Turkey and the US have agreed in “principle” to provide air protection to Syrian rebels being trained and equipped to fight Islamic State militants, once they enter Syrian territory for battle, Turkey’s foreign minister said.
The two countries agreed in February to train and equip up to 15,000 Syrians under the $500m US programme designed to add a credible ground force to an air bombing campaign against the militant group.
The program suffered unexplained delays as the US resisted Turkish calls for the force to be also prepared to fight the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, and the sides tried to reach agreement on who to train.
The US has also refused a Turkish proposal for enforcing a safe area and a no-fly zone in Syria, prompting questions on how trained rebels would be protected when they entered the country.
“They have to be supported via air,” Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Turkish foreign minister told the pro-government Daily Sabah newspaper in comments published on Monday. “If you do not protect them or provide air support, what is the point?”
Cavusoglu did not provide further details on the air cover or confirm whether the air support would include the use of armed drones taking off from an air base in southern Turkey.
“These are technical details,” Cavusoglu told Daily Sabah during a visit to Seoul, South Korea. “There is a principle agreement on providing air support. How it is going to be provided is in the responsibility of the army.”
US officials have said the aim is to train 5,000 Syrians a year for three years at a base in the central Turkish city of Kirsehir and at sites in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
While resisting Turkish pressure for the rebels to also target Syrian regime forces, US officials have conceded that the recruits will have to defend themselves against all sides.
Cavusoglu said: “While the fight against [the Islamic State group] is prioritised, the regime must be also stopped.”
Air strikes against Isis militants in Iraq and Syria began in August and continue daily. They have now run into the thousands, but Isis fighters have recently made further gains, last week capturing Ramadi in Iraq and the Syrian city of Palmyra, where historic ruins are threatened.
On Sunday, the US military said US and allied planes had conducted 17 air strikes in Iraq and 11 in Syria since Saturday. In Syria, strikes hit Isis positions near Kobani and al-Hasakah.
THE GUARDIAN