US Ambassador Admits Using Turkey Base to Bomb ISIL in Syria

After a series of disagreements and denials between the US and Turkey, the US Ambassador to Turkey admitted that US F-16 jets moved to the country took part in an operation against ISIL on Wednesday.

US Ambassador to Turkey John Bass admitted on Thursday that US jets based in Turkey's Incirlik were used to bomb ISIL targets in Syria on Wednesday.

Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu previously denied that the six US jets moved to Turkey earlier in August participated in any bombings against ISIL. Turkey has for a long time been reluctant to participate in any operations against ISIL, although it began sending jets to attack the group in July.

Amb. Bass:Last night's first U.S. F-16 strikes from Incirlik demonstrate strong U.S.-Turkey cooperation against #ISIL pic.twitter.com/TxvRtR4XDJ

— US Embassy Turkey (@USEmbassyTurkey) August 13, 2015

"The US aircraft that took off yesterday from Incirlik did not participate in any operation, they made reconnaissance flights," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told local broadcaster Haberturk earlier on Thursday.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry later said that Cavusoglu meant to say that Turkish jets did not participate in the flights, according to Today's Zaman. In further diplomatic confusion, the Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary told CNN Turk that a zone would be established for patrols by anti-government Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters, while the US State Department denied that there is an agreement on a zone.

In the same interview to Haberturk, Cavusoglu also said that Turkey does not expect a ground operation against ISIL to take place, although he does not rule out the possibility.