Turkey ready to join coalition’s anti-IS strikes

Turkey is now ready to fully participate in coalition strikes against the Islamic State group and may do so within days, the Pentagon said Tuesday. The agreement will incorporate Turkish planes into the “air tasking order” – or ATO – to ensure Turkish operations do not interfere with the operations of the coalition of countries targeting the IS group.

It could take a few days to put these technical arrangements into place at the operational level. We believe that Turkey is committed to fully participating as soon as possible,

Department of Defense spokesman Peter Cook

Last month, Turkey had made a preliminary step toward joining the counter-offensive by allowing US planes to use Incirlik Air Base to attack IS positions in Syria. But its participation in the anti-extremist fight remains limited and its attention seems focused on fighting the Kurdish separatists of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Middle East Turkey