ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkey has killed more than 700 ISIS militants in Iraq’s Bashiqa alone, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday, as he strongly rejected claims that his country supports the terrorist group.
“What country has killed as many Daesh (ISIS) terrorists as Turkey did?” the official Anadolu Agency quoted Cavusoglu as saying. “We eliminated more than 700 terrorists in our Camp Bashiqa alone,” he added. “Who is maintaining an active operation against Daesh beyond the Turkish border?”
In Iraq’s northern Nineveh Province near Bashiqa town, Turkey deployed military advisors to train Kurdish Peshmerga forces and the Sunni Hashd al-Watani militia to fight ISIS in that province last year.
Addressing a NATO Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Istanbul, Cavusoglu was responding to claims by Armenian delegation head Koryun Nahapetyan about Ankara’s support for ISIS.
"Turkey is actively supporting Daesh, and the country's policies caused instability in the region," Nahapetyan had reportedly said.
“Unfortunately our Armenian friends are not honest,” Cavusoglu retorted. “How can you say that we are supporting Daesh?”
Until early this year, Turkey was accused by the United States and European countries of allowing ISIS militants passage across its borders into Syria.
“Daesh hates us,” the Turkish foreign minister claimed. “We are fighting against them actively, both at home and abroad.”
In early September Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield to support the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in evicting ISIS from Syria's northern border area.
Around 1,760 square kilometers (680 square miles) of land in northern Syria have so far been cleared of Daesh terrorists as part of the operation, according to Anadolu.
The Turkish foreign minister concluded his speech by adding that Turkey has also barred thousands of recruits from joining ISIS in Syria using Turkish land.
"No one is more effective than us at killing Daesh’s ideology,” he said.
“What country has killed as many Daesh (ISIS) terrorists as Turkey did?” the official Anadolu Agency quoted Cavusoglu as saying. “We eliminated more than 700 terrorists in our Camp Bashiqa alone,” he added. “Who is maintaining an active operation against Daesh beyond the Turkish border?”
In Iraq’s northern Nineveh Province near Bashiqa town, Turkey deployed military advisors to train Kurdish Peshmerga forces and the Sunni Hashd al-Watani militia to fight ISIS in that province last year.
Addressing a NATO Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Istanbul, Cavusoglu was responding to claims by Armenian delegation head Koryun Nahapetyan about Ankara’s support for ISIS.
"Turkey is actively supporting Daesh, and the country's policies caused instability in the region," Nahapetyan had reportedly said.
“Unfortunately our Armenian friends are not honest,” Cavusoglu retorted. “How can you say that we are supporting Daesh?”
Until early this year, Turkey was accused by the United States and European countries of allowing ISIS militants passage across its borders into Syria.
“Daesh hates us,” the Turkish foreign minister claimed. “We are fighting against them actively, both at home and abroad.”
In early September Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield to support the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in evicting ISIS from Syria's northern border area.
Around 1,760 square kilometers (680 square miles) of land in northern Syria have so far been cleared of Daesh terrorists as part of the operation, according to Anadolu.
The Turkish foreign minister concluded his speech by adding that Turkey has also barred thousands of recruits from joining ISIS in Syria using Turkish land.
"No one is more effective than us at killing Daesh’s ideology,” he said.
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