On Wednesday, Turkey and the U.S. military struck a deal that allows the U.S. military to use a strategically important base near the Syrian border to conduct airstrikes against ISIS.
President Obama and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan finished the deal over the phone inside sources said. This comes from months of the U.S. negotiating for the use of Incirlik and other bases in Turkey. Turkey had originally resisted the U.S’s appeals but an uptick in ISIS activity in Turkey forced them to reconsider.
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From Christian Science Monitor:
American officials said access to the base in southern Turkey, not far from IS strongholds across the border in Syria, would allow the U.S. to move more swiftly and nimbly against IS targets. If the agreement holds, the U.S.-led coalition will be positioned to conduct better surveillance over Syria and act quicker on intelligence than when it was limited to launching flights from places like Iraq, Jordan and the Gulf states.
Turkey has yet to publicly confirm the agreement, which U.S. officials discussed on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to comment publicly. Citing operational security, the White House declined to confirm the agreement, but noted that Obama and Erdogan had agreed to “deepen our cooperation” against IS in their phone call Wednesday.
“Turkey is a critical partner in degrading and defeating ISIL, and we appreciate the essential support Turkey provides to the international coalition across the many lines of effort,” said Alistair Baskey, a spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council, using an alternative acronym for the militant group.
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