Turkey to Support Training, Equipping ’Moderate’ Syrian Militants: US

Local Editor

Turkey has agreed to support the training and equipping of so-called "moderate" Syrian militants in Syria, the US State Department said on Friday, saying a US military planning team would visit Ankara next week to further talks on the matter.

"Turkey has agreed to support train-and-equip efforts for the [so-called] "moderate" Syrian opposition," spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters in describing talks on Thursday between US and Turkish officials in Ankara.

Harf said Turkey could be helpful "in a number of ways not just direct military action." While declining to give details, she said discussions have included whether Turkey could commit ground troops to the fight.

"There will be a [US War Department] planning team traveling to Ankara next week to continue planning that through military channels," she added.

Additionally, retired US General John Allen and deputy envoy Brett McGurk, who are responsible for building a coalition in Syria and Iraq against so-called "Daesh" [ISIL] militants, traveled to Turkey to press officials to play a bigger role in the fight.

Furthermore, the White House on Friday emphasized the importance of quickly getting Turkish military help in Iraq and Syria against Daesh, an issue that came to the forefront this week in the Syrian border town of Kobani.

A top national security aide to President Barack Obama, Lisa Monaco, met with Turkish intelligence chief Hakan Fidan on Friday, part of a series of US-Turkish meetings on Turkey's support for training so-called "moderate" Syrian militants.

Monaco "expressed appreciation for Turkey's support to ongoing US military operations in Iraq and Syria and underscored the importance of accelerating Turkish assistance as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL," the White House said in a statement.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team