‘Operational Details’ of Turkish Commitment to Anti-ISIS Fight Still Under Discussion
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iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — It remains undecided just how much Turkey will commit to helping the U.S.-led coalition fighting back against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Gen. John Allen, the leader of the anti-ISIS campaign, said Wednesday.
Allen said that a Department of Defense planning team was continuing to work through “operational details.” Speculation in recent days has focused in part on whether or not Turkey will allow the U.S. to use its airbase in Incirlik to launch military operations against ISIS.
“The conversation with respect to how those kinds of details will ultimately be resolved is under way right now,” Allen said on Wednesday.
Allen also discussed the continuing airstrikes in the Syrian town of Kobani, saying that the reason so many U.S. airstrikes have been focused there is with “humanitarian purposes” in mind, and with the hope that they can “buy some white space” for Kurdish forces to reorganize.
Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said on Wednesday that the increased number of airstrikes was simply due to there being “more [ISIS] in and around Kobani.”
“They have continued to flow fighters to Kobani, meaning there are more targets in and around Kobani.” Essentially, Kirby noted, “the more they want it, the more resources they apply to it, the more targets we have to hit.”
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