Saudi Arabia to send planes to Turkey for Islamic State fight

Turning to the possibility of a Turkish ground operation in Syria, Cavusoglu said there was “currently… no decision or a strategy to conduct ground operations” although Turkey has long advocated land operations in Syria.

Last Saturday, Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said Syria would resist any ground incursion into its territory and send the aggressors home “in coffins”. “But if it doesn’t work, it will be because of the obstinance of the Syrian regime and that of its allies”.

The missile “precisely hit its target”, it said.

The man who is heading up a humanitarian task force on Syria following an overnight agreement on a cessation of hostilities within a week, says the deal could provide a “breakthrough” to get aid needed to civilians in the war-torn country. “Now he called the Russians, but they won’t be able to help him either”.

“A ground operation draws everyone taking part in it into a war”, he told the newspaper Handelsblatt.

Saudi Arabia has resumed its participation in air strikes against the Islamic State in recent weeks and US Defence Secretary Ash Carter on Thursday welcomed its commitment to expand its role.

In an interview with AFP released Friday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he “doesn’t rule out” that Turkey and Saudi Arabia would intervene militarily in Syria, but said his armed forces “will certainly confront it”.

“We have always said that we would like to have good relations with Iran”, Jubeir said.

Human Rights Watch has criticised Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship system which forbids women “from obtaining a passport, marrying, travelling, or accessing higher education without the approval of a male guardian”.

Iran and Russian Federation have also warned against the deployment of foreign ground forces into Syria, calling it risky which could lead to permanent war.

Both Turkey and Saudi Arabia have been outraged by Russia’s military intervention in Syria in support of Assad, which has also deeply alarmed Western powers. Its actions in Yemen, Adel al-Jubeir said, were aimed at preventing a “radical militia allied with Iran and Hezbollah” from seizing power. “And they were successful for some time”.

“I find it comic that the foreign minister of the country that is single-handedly responsible for the mischief in the region for the past 35 years would say this”, he said.

“Iran is our neighbor”, he said.