‘Turkey can’t lead Syria ground operation alone’

Ankara: Turkey on Thursday said it cannot be expected to lead a ground operation against militants in Syria alone, amid growing pressure on Ankara from the West to intervene militarily.

“It’s not realistic to expect that Turkey will lead a ground operation on its own,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a news conference with visiting Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

There has been increasing pressure on key Nato member Turkey to use its military weight against militants in Syria but Ankara has so far done nothing despite winning parliamentary authorisation for action last week.

The government has said it will only commit to military action if there is a concerted international effort to oust President Bashar Al Assad as well as fight Daesh militants seeking to take the town of Kobani on Turkey’s border.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said a safe zone for refugees, backed up by a no-fly zone, must be created inside Syria if Ankara is to consider military action there.

But the question of imposing a buffer zone in Syria is not being discussed by Nato member states at this stage, Stoltenberg said.

“We discussed this issue today during our meeting here,” Stoltenberg.

“It has not been on the table of any Nato discussions yet and it is not an issue which is discussed in Nato,” he added.

Stoltenberg appeared to be wary of adding to the pressure on Turkey in public, saying that the Daesh militants posed “a great threat for the Iraqi people, the Syrian people and the region in general.”

“It’s important to stand in solidarity,” he added, saying Nato welcomed the Turkish parliament’s vote that gave authorisation for military action.

“Nato stands ready to support all allies in facing threats,” he said.

Cavusoglu said that true peace can never be restored in Syria without the departure of “Al Assad and his regime”.

He said that the current US-led air strikes against militants would not be enough to bring peace to Syria and a ground operation in coordination with anti-Daesh Syrian rebels should be considered.

“Air strikes can reverse the balance of power and stop Daesh, but will not be enough to clean the region of Daesh,” Cavusoglu said.

“Therefore all other options, including a ground operation, should be considered and the Free Syrian Army should be supported,” he said, referring to the anti-Al Assad rebel force.