Turkey in talks with Russia, US on operation in Syria’s Raqqa - premier

ANKARA, February 28. /TASS/. Turkey is discussing an operation with Russia and the United States for liberating the Syrian city of Raqqa from terrorists but won’t join it, if Kurdish fighters are included in the strike force, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday. "Turkey has successfully completed its operation in al-Bab, providing support to the Free Syrian Army [a force in opposition to the authorities in Damascus]. Now negotiations are continuing with Russia, the United States and the coalition on the liberation of Raqqa from militants of the Islamic State grouping [outlawed in Russia]. No decisions have been made yet on this topic," the Turkish premier said in the national parliament. Yildirim stressed, however, that "on its part, Turkey has made one decision on this issue after all." "If the terrorist groupings called People’s Self-Defense Forces and the Democratic Union Party [Syrian Kurds] which are relatives of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party [recognized as a terrorist organization in Turkey] are involved in the operation in Raqqa, we won’t participate in it. We won’t be going shoulder by shoulder with any terrorists," the premier said. The head of the Turkish government also said that the involvement of Kurdish forces "does not agree in any way with Turkey’s allied relations with the United States." "If you use one group of terrorists for the struggle with other terrorists, then how will you eventually act to destroy this terrorist organization [which you used]?" he said. Read more