19-04-2024 01:14 PM Jerusalem Timing

Erdogan: US Not Meeting Our Conditions to Join Anti-ISIL Coalition

Erdogan: US Not Meeting Our Conditions to Join Anti-ISIL Coalition

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that the United States has not fulfilled the conditions of Ankara in order to play a full role in the US-led coalition against ISIL.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that the United States has not fulfilled the conditions of Ankara in order to play a full role in the US-led coalition against the Takfiri group operating in Iraq and Syria, ISIL.

The coalition "had not made the steps we asked them for", Erdogan told reporters at Ankara airport before heading on a trip to Africa.

Turkey has so far refused to play a full role in the US-led coalition against ISIL which has captured swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria right up to the Turkish border.Turkish President Erdogan

Ankara says it wants a security zone to be put in place, a no-fly zone imposed, and the United States to adopt a strategy to “bring down” Syrian President Bashar al-Assad before Turkey can step up its involvement.

Erdogan said that the "parties have not taken any decisive steps towards the train-and-equip plan" for the so-called Free Syrian Army militants (anti-government insurgents in Syria).

"From the no-fly zone to the safety zone, and training and equipping, all these steps have to be taken now.

"But the coalition forces haven't taken the steps we asked them for or suggested to them."

He signaled Turkey would not change its position unless its conditions were fulfilled.

"Of course Turkey will maintain its stance until this process has been completed."

So far, Turkey's sole contribution to the coalition has been allowing a contingent of Iraqi Peshmerga Kurdish fighters to transit Turkish soil to fight ISIL militants for the Syrian border town of Kobani.