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Turkey Announces More Active Role in Syria Conflict

by VOA News

   Turkey will take a more active role in Syria in the next six months to
   prevent further divisions along ethnic lines, Prime Minister Binali
   Yildirim announced Saturday.

   "We say the bloodshed needs to stop. Babies, children, innocent people
   should not die," he told reporters in Istanbul. "That's why Turkey will
   be more active in trying to stop the danger getting worse in the next
   six months."

   Yildirim went on to say that Syria's president Bashar al-Assad had no
   role in Syria's future, but that talks with him would be necessary
   during a transitional period as "he is one of the actors today no
   matter whether we like it or not".

   "We may sit and talk (with Assad) for the transition. A transition may
   be facilitated. But we believe that there should be no PKK, Daesh, or
   Assad in Syria's future," he said, referring to Kurdish rebel groups
   and using the Arabic term for Islamic State.

   Yildirim expressed concern about the ethnic divides created by the
   five-year war in Syria, where Kurdish groups have carved out their own
   regions and occasionally engage in fighting with Syria's Arab majority.
   On Thursday, Syria's Air Force for the first time began bombing Kurdish
   fighters in Hasaka, a city in the northeast where Kurds and Syrian
   government forces had been loosely working together to drive out
   Islamic State militants. The airstrikes marked the most violent
   confrontation between the Syrian government and Kurdish forces since
   the civil war began in 2011.

   Turkey is battling militants of the Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) and is
   concerned about the growing power of Kurds across the border, opposing
   any moves toward autonomy or independence.

   Yildirim also denied rumors that Turkey would allow Russia to use their
   military base Incirlik, which is currently being used by the U.S.-led
   coalition against Islamic State.