All options on table against ISIL on Turkey’s border: Erdoğan

ANKARA

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech at a meeting of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) in Ankara, Turkey, May 10, 2016 - REUTERS photo

All options in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on Turkey’s border with Syria remain on the table, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said May 10 amid word that Turkish forces conducted a weekend operation against the group in Syria.

“All alternatives are on our agenda, on our table to find a solution to this problem,” said Erdoğan, addressing the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) in Ankara on May 10. 

“What is going on Syria is a historic showdown, do not forget it. The projectiles that hit Kilis are not the brattiness of some of the terrorists there; this is part of a historic showdown,” Erdoğan said, referring to the southeastern border province of Kilis being hit by a series of rocket attacks originating from ISIL-held territories in northern Syria.

“I know the pains and sorrows my brothers from Kilis are going through,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Wall Street Journal cited May 10 U.S. officials as saying that Turkey’s special military force carried out an “unusual weekend operation” against ISIL fighters in Syria as part of an increasingly risky campaign against the extremist group.

“A small group of elite Turkish soldiers entered Syria on Saturday [May 7] to help more effectively target [ISIL] fighters that have been launching rocket attacks into Turkey for weeks, American officials said,” the WSJ reported.