Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu renewed calls today for Washington to sever ties with the Syrian Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the top ally of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State, and to provide air support to Turkish forces fighting to dislodge the jihadists from the Syrian town of al-Bab.
US reticence, Cavusoglu charged, was leading the Turkish people to ask, “Why are you letting these people [the Americans] remain in Incirlik?” Defense Minister Fikri Isik echoed his comments, remarking, “The absence of coalition assistance for the al-Bab operation makes one question [their use of] the Incirlik Air Base.”