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Turkey and America agree on air support for Syrian rebels

May 26, 2015 at 10:53 am

Turkey and the United States have reached an “initial” agreement to give air support to certain groups of Syrian rebels, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Monday. However, while American officials confirmed that there have been talks with the Turkish government regarding a potential escalation in Syria, they said that no agreement has been reached yet, reported Arabs48.com.

According to Çavuşoğlu, though, the air support would protect Syrian rebels who have been trained by the US in Turkey. “The long-delayed scheme is meant to send 15,000 troops back to Syria to fight ISIS,” he explained.

The minister’s comments were made during a visit to Seoul. He did not provide any details about what “initial” means or what kind of air power would be provided or by whom.

“They have to have air support,” he told Turkey’s Daily Sabah. “If you do not protect them or provide air support, what is the benefit of training them?” He added that the responsibility for the logistics of the air support lies with the Turkish Army.

In closing, the foreign minister denied media reports about a Turkey-Saudi agreement to carry out a joint operation against Syria.