Turkish deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said his country wants an operation to capture the Islamic State-held city of Raqqa, the extreme-Muslim group’s main stronghold in Syria, to start immediate after Mosul and Euphrates Shield operations have been completed.
“We believe that the Raqqa operation must be carried out by local forces and legitimate administrations and troops. Turkey’s stance on the Raqqa operation is clear. It would be better both militarily and strategically to conduct this operation after the Mosul operation and Turkey’s Euphrates Shield operation are completed,” said Numan Kurtulmus, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister.
The comments by the Turkish deputy Prime Minister came after US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter revealed last week that Washington expected an offensive against the Syrian city of Raqqa to overlap with the ongoing offensive to recapture the Iraqi city of Mosul.