Turkish War Against ISIS & PKK

[Sinan]

A Turkish soldier has been killed by gunfire from across the Syrian border, triggering what was described as the first gunfight between Turkey's army and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants.

Here are the updates as they were posted:

16:48 - A non-commissioned military officer in the province of Kilis, Yalçın Nane, was killed by a gunshot from across Turkey's border with Syria on July 23, Anadolu Agency reported. Two specialized sergeants, Fatih Kurt and Necef Çakmaktepe, were injured in the clash near the 5th Armored Brigade Border Post. "They were taken to hospital by ambulance, and their health status is fine," Kilis Gov. Süleyman Tapsız said.

Hours before the clash, two Chechen-born Russian citizens were detained in Kilis while trying to cross into Syria illegally. According to a police statement, the two men will be prosecuted in Turkey on suspicion of attempting to join ISIL.

17:05 - According to private broadcaster CNNTürk, the attack started at 13:30 and continued with more gunfire from the Syrian territory controlled by ISIL, prompting a proportional response by Turkish armed forces.

17:11 - Turkish media reports that an ISIL militant was also killed in the clash.

17:26 - Turkish artillery starts to bombard ISIL positions in northern Syria, the state-run Anadolu Agency reports.

17:44 - F-16 fighter jets have taken off from Turkish air base in Diyarbakır, Radikal news website reports.

17:55 - Private broadcaster NTV reports that clashes are continuing along the border. Here is the Doğan News Agency footage

18:02 - Four tanks respond to ISIL's fire in accordance with the Turkish military's rules of engagement, private broadcaster CNNTürk reports.

18:03 - The border clash is over, according to CNNTürk, which nonetheless reports that the Turkish armed forces have continued to fire.

18:11 - A special security meeting has started in Ankara after a delay due to Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s prolonged meetings with National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Undersecretary Hakan Fidan and Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel. CNN Türk reports Davutoğlu and Özel are now following the clashes that commenced during the meeting.

18:20 - Anadolu Agency reports the initial clash occured when 10 ISIL militants opened fire on Turkish soldiers on the border. The body of an ISIL militant, who was killed on the border by the responding fire, was carried to Turkey by soldiers together with his rocket launcher, AK-47 rifle and ammunition, according to Anadolu Agency. Beside killing one ISIL militant, the Turkish bombardment with tanks and howitzers also destroyed an armed ISIL vehicle in the Ayyusha village of Syria's Azaz province.

18:36 - Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency publishes the photo of whom it described as the ISIL militant who was killed.

18:45 - A written statement issued by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) confirms that the attack on Turkish troops was carried out by ISIL at 1:30 p.m., July 23. Five armed terrorists opened fire a border military outpost on Syrian border and killed one non-commissioner officer and wounded two troops, the army said. As a result of Turkish retaliation, one ISIL terrorist was killed. Three ISIL vehicles have also been hit, it added.

19:14 - The Turkish Air Force ordered its fighter jets "to be ready" for a possible operation, according to CNNTÜrk.

19:40 - Private broadcaster CNNTürk reports that the initial clash occured as a group of ISIL militants attempted to sneak into Turkey by illegally crossing the border. Militants fired on Turkish soldiers when they were prevented.

19:54 - "It seems that the Turkish army has included ISIL in the scope of its rules of engagement," Hürriyet's Ankarabureau chief Deniz Zeyrek told on CNNTürk, after more details emerged regarding the start of today's incident.

 

[Gasoline]

RIP,

You should strengthen the borders security and build a strong barrier wall if possible .

 

[Corzhens]

I'm not good in geography but based on what I gathered, Turkey is beside the territory of ISIL and since that group is expanding its territory, Turkey should be aware of that. As what @Gasoline said, the border security should be strengthened to secure their country from a possible invasion. ISIS and ISIL are in the process of establishing a new country so they are prospecting and the adjacent countries should be aware.

 

[Sinan]

RIP,

You should strengthen the borders security and build a strong barrier wall if possible .

Turkey plans to take yet another turn by flying surveillance balloons and building a two-fenced border system with a new moat as part of its efforts to beef up its border security with Syria, after accusations from the international community of not doing its best to stem the flow of foreign fighters from Turkey to its neighbor.

“What is important in the face of Daesh (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - ISIL) is to block the terrorists’ transit points and to have physical obstacles to this. A physical security system will be established at the border,” Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç told reporters during a break from a cabinet meeting attended by the commander of Turkey’s ground forces on late July 22.

Arınç said they discussed implementing an “integrated system” to secure “critical parts of the border” with war-torn Syria to counter the threat of ISIL, adding those measures would not include building walls between the people of two countries.

Two-section fence system in risky areas
According to the new plan to beef up border security, Turkey plans to fly surveillance balloons over the border area, officials told the Hürriyet Daily News. Compared to drones, surveillance balloons bring about several advantages for border surveillance. They are able to stay stationary in the air and at higher altitudes, thereby covering a greater area. Turkey is expected to buy them from the U.S.

The government will build a two-fenced border system including roads passing through two-section wire-mesh fences with observation towers, officials said. The amplified wire-mesh fence system will be located in risky regions of the border area which have been subject to high illegal passage.

The government has already renewed 145 km of wire fence and has set up 90 km of new fences on the border, according to information gathered from Turkish officials.

A total of 450 km of other parts of Turkey’s border with Syria, on the other hand, will be protected by a new moat. The cost of the new border security measures, including drones, thermal cameras and motion sensors, will be around 4.2 billion Turkish Liras.

With a renewed reinforcement of border security personnel, 50 percent of soldiers assigned to protect the county’s borders have been carrying on work on the Syrian border.

Turkey also assigned 90 percent of its drones, along with 50 percent of its armored cars, to the border area with Syria.

 

[Sinan]

File photo: The Turkish Air Forc


Turkey carried out airstrikes against three Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets in Syria for 13 minutes early July 24.

Three Turkish F-16 fighter jets took off from the 8th Main Jet Base in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır at 3:12 a.m. and hit two ISIL headquarters and one rallying point inside Syria with guided missiles from 3:40 a.m. to 3:53 a.m., Turkish Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

The operation was named after Yalçın Nane, a non-commissioned military officer who was killed during Turkish army's first gunfight with ISIL on the border in the province of Kilis on July 23.

ISIL targets were located near the Havar village of Syria, which is across Turkey's Kilis on the border, according to Doğan News Agency.

Private broadcaster CNNTürk reported that the Turkish jets launched their missiles from Turkey, without entering the Syrian airspace.

The decision was taken at a special security meeting inAnkara late July 23, hours after the clash on the border.

"The state of the Republic of Turkey is decisive in taking any precaution to safeguard its national security," the official statement confirming the airstrikes said on July 24, adding that the Turkish F-16s returned to their bases at 4:24 a.m.

Suicide bombing triggers more violence
The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) had announced that five armed terrorists opened fire at a military outpost on Syrian border on July 23 and killed one non-commissioner officer, while wounding two troops. As a result of Turkish retaliation, one ISIL militant was killed and three ISIL vehicles were hit.

Hours before the July 23 border clash which involved four Turkish tanks, Turkey agreed to open its İncirlik military base to aircraft of the anti-ISIL coalition.

The new joint action consensus between Turkey and the United States also covers a partial no-fly zone over the Turkey-Syria border.

The 90-kilometer line between Syria’s Mare and Cerablus will be 40 to 50 kilometers deep, sources told daily Hürriyet, while elaborating on the security steps outlined by Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, following a cabinet meeting on July 22.

Turkey also recently decided to beef up security on its borders with Syria by flying surveillance balloons and building a two-fenced border system with a new moat.

On July 20, 32 people were killed by a suicide bombing in a Turkish town on the Syrian border that the government blamed on ISIL.

This sparked an upsurge in violence in Turkey’s Kurdish-dominated southeast, where many accuse the Turkish authorities of collaborating with ISIL, accusations Ankaradenies.

Turkish police on July 24 launched raids to arrest suspected members of ISIL and other militant groups, including the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), in an apparent bid to stamp down on all sources of violence, the state-run Anadolu Agency said.


Turkish airstrikes target ISIL in Syria - MIDEAST

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Turkey's Erdogan says 'first step' taken against ISIS

Erdogan's remarks came after Turkish warplanes struck ISIS targets across the border in Syria early on Friday following a wave of deadly violence in Turkey. (File photo: AP)

By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News
Friday, 24 July 2015

Turkish President Recep Tayib Erdogan has said that "terrorist groups" must lay down weapons or face consequences and Friday's actions are the "first steps" in combating the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Erdogan's remarks came after Turkish warplanes struck ISIS targets across the border in Syria early on Friday following a wave of deadly violence in the country.

Also on Friday, Turkey had arrested 251 people after launching simultaneous raids targeting ISIS and Kurdish militants in 13 provinces across the country, according to a statement issued by the Turkish prime minister’s office.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu vowed that his country would continue operations against ISIS extremists and Kurdish militants and that "the operations that were started today are not a single event but a process," he told reporters in Ankara in televised comments.

Earlier in the day, Turkish air force jets launched their first strikes on ISIS positions in Syria, following a suicide bombing that killed 32 people in a Turkish town on the Syrian border.

Davutoglu said that the warplanes had been "100 percent" successful in eliminating their targets.

"We are observing activity in Syria and on the border at every moment. Turkey will show the strongest reaction to the slightest movement that threatens it."

"The operation against ISIS reached its target and will not stop," he added.

Davutoglu meanwhile dismissed suggestions that the Turkish government had warned the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad - which Ankara vehemently opposes - of the strikes.

(With Reuters and AFP)

Last Update: Friday, 24 July 2015 KSA 14:51 - GMT 11:51
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/07/24/Turkey-s-Erdogan-says-first-step-was-taken-against-ISIS.html

 

[Sinan]

I'm not good in geography but based on what I gathered, Turkey is beside the territory of ISIL and since that group is expanding its territory, Turkey should be aware of that. As what @Gasoline said, the border security should be strengthened to secure their country from a possible invasion. ISIS and ISIL are in the process of establishing a new country so they are prospecting and the adjacent countries should be aware.

Mate, seems like you don't know about Turkey.....Turkey has the largest standing army in Europe and only second to US in terms of size. ISIS can't invade a Turkish pebble. They opened fire and killed a single Turkish soldier,Turkish army in 8 hours killed dozens of them.

 

[Bubblegum Crisis]

Quote :

Partial no-fly zone included in US-Turkey consensus: Turkish sources

Uğur Ergan - ANKARA
July/24/2015

A recent joint action consensus between Turkey and the United States, which includes the use of the İncirlik Airbase in southern Turkey in fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadists, also covers a partial no-fly zone over the Turkey-Syria border, according to Turkish sources.

The 90-kilometer line between Syria’s Mare and Cerablus will be 40 to 50 kilometers deep, sources told daily Hürriyet, while elaborating on the consensus outlined by Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, following a cabinet meeting on July 22.

However, sources avoided saying whether such a zone would be broadened in the future.

This security line will prevent radical groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front from gaining the mentioned land.

U.S.-led coalition jets will provide security over the land “when needed,” carrying out “attacking or exploration” flights, sources said.

Jets belonging to Turkey, which is not a member of the coalition but lends support to the anti-ISIL fight, will also be allowed to take similar flights “when needed,” the sources added.

The coalition jets will be allowed to use the İncirlik NATO base and Turkish air field, they said.

In addition, an artillery backing by the Turkish military has also been considered. The consensus also covered permissions for jets from other countries which may possibly join the coalition in the future.

The use of the airfield will be coordinated with the Turkish army, sources said.

Following a final declaration of the agreement on the no-fly zone, the jets of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria will not be permitted within the zone, and those which violate this will be targeted.

The agreement did not directly target the Syrian-Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), but a counter move will be possible if the PYD and its armed force, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), threaten the Turkish border, namely bidding to change the demographic structure, according to sources. However, they said the U.S. would not take a direct stance against the PYD, which is now fighting against ISIL.

The coalition jets will also be able to use bases in the southeastern provinces of Batman, Diyarbakır and Malatya in cases of emergency.

Hurriyet Daily News


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[Lieutenant]

Turkey needs to be heavily involved in the fight against ISIS otherwise the later will join the rest of terror organization, PKK, PYD,YPG and will cause headache for Turkey in the long run.

 

[Bubblegum Crisis]

Turkish army engages in first gunfight with ISIL after soldier killed on border | World Defense


- 40 kilometers deep :




- 50 kilometers deep :




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[Corzhens]

Mate, seems like you don't know about Turkey.....Turkey has the largest standing army in Europe and only second to US in terms of size. ISIS can't invade a Turkish pebble. They opened fire and killed a single Turkish soldier,Turkish army in 8 hours killed dozens of them.

You are right on that. I actually don't know Turkey at all except for that guy named Mr. Bektas who married one of our actresses here. It's nice to know that ISIS has no chance of invading Turkey because of its powerful army. At least ISIS is stymied in that border. And how about asking the help of Turkish army in driving away ISIS from Syria? What do you think?

 

[LilAnn]

Am I getting ahead of myself by hoping ISIS/ISIL gets smacked down? you know, in the "smack a bitch down" sense? And then every time they stand back up, they get smacked down again?

 

[Gasoline]

Am I getting ahead of myself by hoping ISIS/ISIL gets smacked down? you know, in the "smack a bitch down" sense? And then every time they stand back up, they get smacked down again?

We all hope that. Then, my voice to Turkey " Don't keep calm, slap those bitches HARD "

 

[Sinan]

You are right on that. I actually don't know Turkey at all except for that guy named Mr. Bektas who married one of our actresses here. It's nice to know that ISIS has no chance of invading Turkey because of its powerful army. At least ISIS is stymied in that border. And how about asking the help of Turkish army in driving away ISIS from Syria? What do you think?

Driving entirely from Syria by Turkey..... Nope, it will cost to Turkey Tens of Billions of $, Hundreds of dead Turkish soldiers, risking clashes with other factions and Syrian Army.

It can only be done by a coalition formed by UN forces or NATO.

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

For Erdogan, Turkish assault is about containing the Kurds as much as fighting Isil

Experts say they do not expect the bombing to spread into a wider confrontation

For Erdogan, Turkish assault is about containing the Kurds as much as fighting Isil - Telegraph