Turkish Leader Faults Delays in Fight against Daesh
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Turkey's president on Tuesday criticized delays in the US-led coalition's offensive against the Daesh (also known as ISIL or ISIS) group in Syria and Iraq, as the extremists pressed ahead with an offensive against Syrian government forces.
Speaking in Ankara on Tuesday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said "the operations that are constantly delayed are of no benefit for the well-being of these two countries' people."
Erdogan spoke after the capture of an Uzbekistan national who authorities say trained in Afghanistan and carried out a deadly New Year's nightclub attack in Istanbul.
Turkey is a partner in the US-led coalition against ISIL, which claimed the attack. The extremist group said it was a reprisal for Turkey's campaign to dislodge the militants from the northern Syrian town of al-Bab, AP reported.
Turkey, which for years supported the Syrian opposition drive to oust President Bashar Assad, has recalibrated its priorities toward fighting Daesh militants and thwarting Kurdish aspirations for autonomous rule along Syria's border with Turkey.
Turkish troops rolled over the border in August to help Syrian opposition forces battle ISIL and halt the advance of US-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters, who are also fighting the extremists.
But nearly two months into the assault on al-Bab, one of ISIL' last major strong holds in northern Syria, Turkey has become bogged down in the fighting, which has driven a wedge between Ankara and Washington.
Turkish officials say Washington hasn't done enough to support Turkey's operation in al-Bab and has forced Ankara to reach out to Russia for aerial support.