ANKARA (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu confirmed a US statement that Ankara and Washington would intensify operations aimed at pushing Islamic State militants from a strip of northern Syria's border with Turkey. The operation is planned for the coming days.
"Turkey will always be able to defend itself. It is clear there is a serious threat to our security coming from Syria. We will take all necessary measures to ensure our security. But it would be premature to determine today what measures it would be," Davutoglu said at a joint press conference with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Ankara.
In August, Turkey began conducting airstrikes on ISIL targets in neighboring Syria as part of a US-led coalition against the militants. Ankara made the decision to launch the strikes in the wake of a deadly July suicide attack in the Turkish city of Suruc, blamed by Ankara on Islamic State.
On Monday, US President Barack Obama said it was important to limit the space where the ISIL extremist group can operate in Syria and put the country on path toward reconciliation to eliminate terrorist threat. US Secretary of State John Kerry announced Tuesday that Washington was entering an operation with the Turks to close 98 kilometers of the Syrian border.
