U.S., Turkey hashing out anti-ISIS plan

Plan offers possibility of safe haven for Syrians displaced by violence

BEIRUT— Turkey and the United States have agreed on the outlines of a plan to rout the Islamic State group from a strip of Syrian territory along the Turkish border — a plan that opens the possibility of a safe haven for tens of thousands of displaced Syrians but one that also sets up a potential conflict with U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces in the area.

The move further embroils Turkey, a key NATO ally, in Syria’s civil war, and also catapults it into a front-line position in the global war against Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL).

A senior Obama administration official said Monday that U.S. discussions with Turkey about an Islamic State-free zone focused on a 110-kilometre stretch still under Islamic State control. The U.S. has been conducting airstrikes there, which will accelerate now that the U.S. can launch strikes from Turkish soil, the official said.

No agreement between Turkey and the U.S. has yet been finalized, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity under regulations.

Another U.S. official said earlier Monday that any joint military efforts with Turkey would not include the imposition of a no-fly zone. The U.S. has long rejected Turkish and other requests for a no-fly zone to halt Syrian government air raids, fearing it would draw U.S. forces further into the civil war. The official insisted on anonymity because this person was not authorized to publicly discuss the talks with Turkey.

While details of the buffer-zone plan have yet to be announced, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Ankara and Washington have no intention of sending ground troops into Syria but wanted to see Syria’s moderate opposition forces replace Islamic State near the Turk- ish border. “Moderate forces like the Free Syrian Army will be strengthened, a structure will be created so that they can take control of areas freed from ISIL, air cover will be provided. It would be impossible for them to take control of the area without it,” Davutoglu told Turkey’s A Haber television. ISIL is an alternate acronym for the Islamic State group.

The discussions came amid a major tactical shift in Turkey’s approach to Islamic State. After months of reluctance, Turkish warplanes started striking militant targets in Syria last week, and allowed the U.S. to launch its own strikes from Turkey’s strategically located Incirlik Air Base.

Turkey has also called a meeting of its NATO allies for Tuesday to discuss threats to its security and its airstrikes. Davutoglu said “NATO has a duty to protect” Turkey’s border with Syria and Iraq, and that Ankara will seek the alliance’s support for its actions at the meeting in Brussels. But a Turkish-driven military campaign to push Islamic State out of territory along the Turkish border is likely to complicate matters on the ground.

U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria, who have been the most successful in the war against ISIS, control most of the roughly 900-kilometre boundary with Turkey, and have warned Ankara against any military intervention in northern Syria.