Off the wire
• China to build demonstration bases for innovation  • China supports cybersecurity dialogue with U.S.  • Three share early lead at Buick championship  • Singapore's Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat suffers a stroke  • Kenya to conduct major vaccination campaign against measles and tetanus  • Feature: 500 meters, long enough to keep families apart  • Results of women's all-round at National Diving Championships  • Buick golf championship leading scores  • EU, Mercosur exchange revised market access offers  • Roundup: Nissan to take 34 pct stake in scandal-hit Mitsubishi Motors  
You are here: 　 Home

Turkish president threatens unilateral actions against IS group in Syria

Xinhua, May 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

Turkey is prepared to take unilateral actions against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria to protect its southern border town Kilis from IS attacks, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.

"We are making necessary preparations in order to clear across the border," he said.

Erdogan complained that the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition has not provided Turkey with the desired support.

"Turkey will not wait... while we have martyrs every day," Erdogan said. "I'd like to say that we will not hesitate to take unilateral steps on this issue."

The issue of Kilis would be "litmus paper" for revealing the sincerity of coalition partners in the fight against the IS group, Erdogan said.

Recalling that the jihadist group fires rocket projectiles at Kilis almost every day, Erdogan said some 130 people have been killed in IS attacks in Turkey.

He said the Turkish army has hit 3,000 IS targets in Syria and destroyed 1,300 of its positions there.

In recent weeks, Kilis has been repeatedly hit by rocket fire from IS-controlled territories inside Syria.

Rockets fired from Syria have be fallen in Kilis since mid-January, killing 20 people, including seven Syrians refugees, and injuring 66 others, including 17 Syrians, according to figures provided by the Turkish Armed Forces.

The IS has orchestrated a number of suicide bombings in Turkey's capital, Istanbul and other provinces, leaving hundreds killed. Endit