Turkey Claims it Struck Deal with U.S. on Air Support for Syrian Rebels

The U.S. and Turkey have “agreed in principle” to provide air support to Syrian rebels being trained and equipped to fight Islamic State militants, Turkey’s foreign minister has claimed.

The two countries agreed in February to train and equip more than 5,000 fighters a year, and a total of 15,000 over a three-year period, to send back to Syria to fight Islamic State militants.

The air support would protect Syrian rebel forces who have been trained by a U.S.-led program on Turkish territory, said Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

“There is a principle agreement on providing air support,” he added, but did not specify the meaning of “a principle” or what kind of air power would be supplied.

“They have to be supported via air. If you do not protect them or provide air support, what is the point?” Cavusoglu told Turkey’s Daily Sabah newspaper.

“The U.S.-led training program has been mired in delays amid media speculation of disagreements between the two NATO allies,” the Guardian reports.

U.S. officials acknowledged ongoing discussions with Turkey about options to step up the fight against Islamic State. However, it said no decisions had been made.

Turkey has said that any support system for the rebels must be part of a comprehensive plan, which includes battling forces loyal to the regime. It has also laid out several conditions for playing a larger role in the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS, including the creation of a no-fly zone, with the ultimate goal of defeating the Assad regime.

Meanwhile, the U.K. and Russia have agreed to resume talks aimed at finding a solution to end the conflict in Syria. “Both leaders agreed that it is in the interest of both the UK and Russia to help find a solution to the civil war in Syria and particularly to stop the rise of ISIL [ISIS],” a Downing Street spokeswoman said.

“They agreed that their national security advisers should meet to restart talks on the Syrian conflict,” she added.

Previous peace talks held in Geneva almost a year ago failed to produce results or ongoing momentum. Opposition leaders demanded Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s departure, while the regime insisted that the focus of the negotiation should be on countering “terrorism” – its term for armed resistance to its rule.

Russia, a longtime ally of Assad, hosted meetings in Moscow in April between some of the more moderate Syrian opposition groups and envoys from the government.

Syrian Government Forces Carry Out Intense Strikes in Palmyra

Syrian government forces carried out intense strikes on Monday against the Islamic State in and around Palmyra, after the ancient city fell to the militant group last week, AFP reports. “The air force struck more than 160 Daesh [ISIS] targets, killing and wounding terrorists and destroying weapons and vehicles equipped with machine guns” on Palmyra’s outskirts and elsewhere in the east of Homs province, a military source told AFP.

“Military operations, including air raids, are ongoing in the area around al-Suknah, Palmyra, the Arak and al-Hail gas fields and all the roads leading to Palmyra,” he added.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that four civilians were killed and dozens wounded in the raids. ISIS allegedly suffered losses when a military security building was hit in one of the raids. However, thus far the raids have failed to stop the militants, “who advanced toward the capital Damascus and overran major phosphate mines about 70 kilometers (45 miles) south of Palmyra,” AFP reported, citing SOHR.

“IS has made further progress on the Tadmur–Damascus highway and grabbed the Khnaifess phosphate mines and nearby houses,” said the Observatory.

“It has extended its control over larger areas and even greater economic interests,” it added.

The Islamic State gained full control of Palmyra and its ancient archaeological sites, its military bases and the notorious Tadmur prison last Thursday, marking the first time the al-Qaida offshoot has taken control of a city directly from the Syrian army and its allied forces.

The group reportedly executed at least 217 people, including women and children, in and around Palmyra after the city was seized by the group last week.

The fall of the town to the Islamic State is a significant loss to the government because it potentially opens the way for the extremists to advance toward key government-held areas, including the capital city of Damascus and Homs. It is also close to gas and oil fields that supply the regime’s strongholds in the west.

SOHR reported last week that the group now controlled more than half of all Syrian territory.

Meanwhile, activists reported an explosion in an apartment building in the coastal city of Latakia, a stronghold of President Assad, that killed at least three people, including two children.

Recommended Reads

• Reuters: Iraq, Syria Battle to Keep ISIS Militants at Bay
• Associated Press: For an IS Fighter, a Paid Honeymoon in Caliphate’s Heart
• The New Yorker: Journey to Jihad

Photo Courtesy of AP Images