Speakers Room

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday disclosed that he and the United States are ready to drive ISIS from its Syrian stronghold of Raqqa.

Erdogan said US counterpart Barack Obama floated the idea of joint action against the militants when they met at the G20 summit in China.

“Turkey will have no problem with such action,” Erdogan said.

Last month Turkey launched an operation inside Syria, targeting both ISIS and Kurdish rebels.

Turkish-backed militia drove ISIS from the border town of Jarablus, but Turkey has also been concerned with checking the advance of Kurdish forces whom it regarded as terrorists.

The offensive continues, and Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli said Turkish forces might push deeper into Syria after securing a stretch of land along the border.

Canikli also said 110 Islamic State and Kurdish militia fighters had been killed since the operation began.

Russia, who is allied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said it was deeply concerned by the Turkish advance.

Erdogan’s comments on Raqqa were published in Turkish media, but there has been no confirmation from the US.

“Obama wants to do some things jointly concerning Raqqa. We said this would not be a problem from our perspective,’’ he said, stressing, “More discussions would follow.”

Raqqa’s fall was a key point in the rise of IS as it seized swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria, and is now considered the jihadists’ de facto capital.

Between 250, 000 and 500, 000 people are still thought to live there, with brutal stories emerging of the treatment of civilians.