Saudi warplanes may come to Turkey within days

ANTALYA, Turkey

Saudi Arabian military jets could arrive in Turkey in the next few days to carry out missions against Daesh, Turkey’s foreign minister said Saturday.

“Saudi Arabian jets may come to Turkey over the coming days to fight Daesh,” Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Antalya, southern Turkey.

The aircraft are likely to be based at the Incirlik air base in Adana province, from where U.S. bombers have been targeted Daesh in Syria.

Cavusoglu said it was not certain how many Saudi warplanes would be based in Turkey.

“Because this is our common struggle... Saudi Arabia also wanted to send aircraft and join the air operations,” he added.

Turning to the possibility of a Turkish ground operation in Syria, Cavusoglu said there was “currently… no decision or a strategy to conduct ground operations” although Turkey has long advocated land operations in Syria.

He also addressed the U.S. relationship with the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing, the Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG), which are affiliated to the PKK. Turkey classes them as terrorist organizations while the U.S. sees them as allies in the fight against Daesh.

“We do not think it is right for a country such as the United States to get close to terrorist organizations in such a way,” he said. “We have given them the names and photos of PKK members within the PYD and YPG. The U.S. is our ally and friend. They will see the truth.”

Alongside Turkey, which has been the target of the PKK’s 32-year insurgency, the U.S. and EU list the PKK as a terror group.