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Turkey, U.S. ink deal on joint military operations against IS: Turkish FM

Xinhua, August 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

Turkey and the United States have concluded "technical talks" on military operations and sealed a deal against Islamic State (IS) group, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday.

The U.S. and Turkish military have signed the agreement, the minister told reporters in the Turkish capital Ankara, but he did not give further details on when U.S.-Turkish joint operations against the IS will start.

In July, Turkey carried out the first airstrikes against IS targets in Syria. In early August, U.S. warplanes started to use key Incirlik Airbase in Adana province in southern Turkey for airstrikes against IS militants in Syria.

Turkey was earlier reluctant to take part in military operations against the IS, but negotiations on the issue between Ankara and Washington have accelerated since early 2015.

Ankara has beefed up security measures against the flow of jihadists through its border and detained dozens of IS militants in Turkey since early 2015.

Turkey's strikes against the IS have intensified after a suspected IS suicide bombing killed 33 people on July 20 in Suruc town of Sanliurfa province in southern Turkey near Syrian border. Endit