ERDOGAN LOOKS AHEAD TO ISIL ‘CAPITAL’
Focus is now on taking Raqqa, the last ISIL stronghold
Turkish and Syrian forces set to oust ISIL from Al Bab, but he says without Raqqa there is no victory,
ISTANBUL // Turkish president Recept Tayyip Erdogan yesterday said his country’s troops and their Syrian rebel allies had entered the centre of the ISIL stronghold Al Bab and its capture was now only a “matter of time”.
“Al Bab is now besieged from all fronts, our forces entered the centre,” Mr Erdogan said before departing for a tour of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
“ISIL forces have begun leaving Al Bab.”
Military sources reported one Turkish soldier killed and three wounded in clashes yesterday, taking the number of Turkish casualties in Syria to 67.
Turkey is leading Syrian opposition forces in operation Euphrates Shield against ISIL and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the latter dominated by Kurds including the YPG, which Turkey considers a terror group. Mr Erdogan said Turkey’s work would not be finished until the region was clear of ISIL.
“ISIL’s main centre is not Al Bab but Raqqa,” he said.
“Once Raqqa is cleared, this region will be a terror-free area.”
Turkey believes recent ISIL attacks in Turkey, including the shootings in an Istanbul nightclub on New Year’s Day, were coordinated from Al Bab and Raqqa, and sees clearing the towns of extremists as a national security priority.
The fighting in Al Bab, 30 kilometres from the Turkish border, has proved to be the toughest that Turkish forces and their Syrian rebel allies have encountered since Turkey entered the Syrian war last August.
And now that Turkish troops have entered Al Bab, they also risk coming into direct conflict with Syrian government forces, who are closing in from the south and also targeting ISIL.
There are also issues of alliances coming up with the United States.
Mr Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin revealed last week that Turkey presented the White House with a detailed plan to drive ISIL from Raqqa and that strategy discussions between the two were under way.
One issue sure to be top of Turkey’s agenda is the SDF.
Turkey considers them a hostile force and does not want them involved in any operation to take Raqqa.
However, they are backed by Washington and just last week the US- led coalition targeted several bridges across the Euphrates River in support of the SDF’s offensive to capture towns and villages east of Raqqa.
Mr Erdogan made it clear that Ankara’s priority was to clear Syria of ISIL and and it had no intention of staying in the country after achieving its goal.
Turkey has repeatedly called for a “safe zone” inside Syria supported by a no-fly zone. “The ultimate goal is to cleanse a 5,000- square- kilometre area,” Mr Erdogan said.