Turkey is ready to send ground troops into Syria if necessary, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says, after weeks of deadly rocket strikes on a Turkish region from jihadists across the border.
“If it becomes necessary then we will send the ground forces,” Davutoglu tells Al-Jazeera television in an interview, when asked if Turkey was mulling sending troops to Syria.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu greets members of parliament as he arrives for a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, on May 03, 2016. (AFP/ADEM ALTAN)
“We are ready to take all measures that we need, both inside Turkey and outside, to provide for our own security,” he adds, according to a transcript published on Al-Jazeera’s Turkish website.
The Turkish border region of Kilis — which lies opposite areas controlled by Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria — has been battered since January by rocket fire from the other side of the border which has claimed 20 lives.
Turkey has hit back with artillery fire of its own against IS but has always stopped short of making any firm commitment to send its troops over the border.
— AFP
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