US Air Force sends fighter jets to Turkey

Wednesday saw U.S. warplanes deploy for airstrikes on Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria after taking off from a Turkish base, for the first time.

“Turkey and the U.S. are joining forces against a common threat”, Coskun Unal, a military analyst for Sidar Global Advisors, a research firm in Washington, said by phone.”The use of Incirlik will lead to better intelligence-sharing between the allies, which could increase number of precision strikes on Islamic State“.

According to Reuters, Turkish security sources confirmed that Turkish fighter jets were not involved in the manned US air strikes on 12 August.

The leader of the PKK, Cemil Bayik, told the BBC on Sunday that he believed Turkey wanted IS to succeed in order to prevent Kurdish gains.

Turkey is now pressing a two-pronged “anti-terror” offensive against IS jihadists in Syria and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in northern Iraq and southeast Turkey following a wave of attacks inside the country.

The withdrawal of al-Nusra, which mainly acts in conjunction with a wide range of other rebel forces, may facilitate worldwide backing for rebels fighting Islamic State in the area.

“We will continue our fight until weapons are laid down… and not one single terrorist remains within our borders”, Erdogan said in a televised speech in Ankara. “We could not risk having U.S. forces hit by Turkish bombs”.

His statements come after the U.S. State Department denied there was an agreement between Washington and Ankara to great a “safe zone” in northern Syria.

Turkish practitioner jets have not been engaged with the manned You can include.S. air strikes on Wednesday, Turkish intrusion providers said. This is generating unease among U.S. military officials who want to see Turkey follow through on its pledge to join the air campaign.

The Turkish officials also said stated that the train-and-equip program for the Syrian opposition was underway. “Our folks are very eager to put it to the test”.

The actual airstrikes are about as coordinated between the U.S. and Turkey as the declaration of a zone of warfare. That victory was made possible by U.S. air support and the partnership has only deepened since then.

More broadly, the escalation is important for bringing Turkey more directly in the conflict, Harmer said. Instead, it can intensify its efforts to defeat the Assad regime and acquire more territory in both Syria and Iraq.

Turkmen fighters entering Syria is a significant new development in the war against ISIS, because it shows that the U.S. and Turkey are going to rely on them, instead of other moderate Syrian rebels, to ensure the militant group does not re-enter the area.