Turkey Requests Special Session of NATO Talks

District of Gazi in Istanbul, on July 26, 2015.

Erdogan also said the creation of a safe zone in the north of war-torn Syria, free from IS, would help the return of many refugees.

U.S. officials declined to comment publicly on the Turkish strikes in northern Iraq.

Details of the zone “remain to be worked out”, said the official during a visit by US President Barack Obama to Ethiopia, adding that joint efforts would not include Turkey’s demand for the imposition of a no-fly zone.

Turkey’s long-awaited involvement in the global coalition against IS, flying combat missions and making its vital airbases available to US jets, has been described as a possible “game changer”.

The Syria-Turkey border is held by U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds, who does not want any military move in the area.

“The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) took full control of Sarrin on Monday after three weeks of intense clashes”, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The talks follow a major shift in Turkey’s approach to IS in recent days.

The anti-ISIS campaign from Turkish grounds may further complicate the situation.

There are concerns as to what extent would Syrian rebels be involved in the anti-ISIS ground campaigns. The United States has long complained about having no reliable partners among them. Defense Secretary Ash Carter acknowledged earlier this month that the U.S. has only 60 trainees in a program to prepare and arm thousands of moderate Syrian rebels in the fight against IS militants.

Turkey says it will press ahead with military operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) until the group is disarmed.

But both the Pentagon and State Department said Monday that Turkey has the right defend itself against the PKK, which the US has designated a foreign terrorist organization.

“There’s no connection between what they did against PKK and what we’re going to try to do together against ISIL”, he said.

In a series of cross-border strikes, Turkey has not only targeted the IS group but also Kurdish fighters affiliated with forces battling IS in Syria and Iraq.

Davutoglu ordered the air strikes and artillery barrages after a devastating suicide bombing last week in a Turkish town close to the Syrian border that killed 32 people.

The YPG has proved Syria’s most effective force against IS, but its successes have been eyed suspiciously by Turkey because of its links to the PKK.

The official said the “ongoing military operation seeks to neutralize imminent threats to Turkey’s national security and continues to target ISIS in Syria and the PKK in Iraq“.

The statement reported that the first attack had injured four FSA fighters and local villagers on Friday, while on Sunday night Zormikhar was hit by seven tank rounds and two hours later a YPG vehicle in the nearby Til Findire village came under “heavy fire” from Turkish armed forces.

Davutoglu was quoted in the Hurriyet newspaper as saying the PYD could “have a place in the new Syria” if it did not disturb Turkey, cut all relations with the administration of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and cooperated with opposition forces. “We strongly condemn the terrorist attacks against Turkey, and express our condolences to the Turkish government and the families of the victims in Suruc and other attacks against police and military officers”.