ANKARA — Turkey and the United States will soon launch “comprehensive” air operations to flush the Daesh (the so-called IS) militants from a zone in northern Syria bordering Turkey, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Reuters on Monday. Detailed talks between Washington and Ankara on the plans were completed on Sunday, and regional allies as well as Britain and France may also take part, Cavusoglu said in an interview. “The technical talks have been concluded, yesterday, and soon we will start this operation, comprehensive operations, against Daesh (Islamic State),” he said. The United States and Turkey plan to provide air cover for what Washington judges to be moderate Syrian rebels as part of the operations, which aim to flush Daesh from a rectangle of border territory roughly 80 km (50 miles) long, officials familiar with the plans have said. Diplomats say cutting Daesh's access to the Turkish border, across which it has been able to bring foreign fighters and supplies, could be a game-changer. US jets have already begun air strikes from Turkish bases in advance of the campaign. Cavusoglu said the operations would also send a message to President Bashar Al-Assad and help put pressure on his administration to come to the negotiating table and seek a political solution for Syria's wider war. — Reuters
