Turkey moves forward in U.S.-led anti-IS coalition

The agreement between Turkey and the United States on a long-anticipated deal to train and equip moderate Syrian opposition fighters does not signal that Turkey has given up on demands for no-fly zones or safe zones in Syria, Turkish analysts said.

"It appears Turkey treats both issues as separate," Mehmet Seyfettin Erol, professor of international relations at Ankara-based Gazi University, told Xinhua.

"The active involvement of Turkey militarily in Syria requires the fulfilling of these two key demands: Safe zones and no-fly zones," he added.

The agreement between Turkey and the U.S. over training and equipping of Syrian rebel groups signed on Thursday, prompting welcoming remarks from the U.S. officials.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said right after the agreement: "We certainly welcomed our partnership and work with Turkey on this and other issues as a part of the coalition."

The agreement was signed by the Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu and the U.S. Ambassador in Ankara John Bass.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters in Pakistan earlier this week that talks about the train-and-equip program had started long before Ankara raised its demands on safe and no-fly zones.

He said Turkey's demand for safe zone is rather related with Turkey's active involvement in U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State (IS) and involves use of military bases in Turkey.

"Train and equip has been going on for some time already," he said, describing the agreement as an effort to put it in a framework.

"The involvement of Turkey militarily is a separate issue," he underlined, noting that Turkey's concerns are still on the table.

Davutoglu explained that establishing a safe zone in Syria to prevent refugee flow is a valid concern.

Turkey has already announced before that it was ready to open its territory for the training of the Syrian rebels.

About program, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters on Friday that the training will start early in March and will involve training of 2000 within a year.

Turkey earlier declared that Kirsehir, a central province in Turkey, had been designated as a location for the military training of the rebels.

"Britain is also carrying out similar training (programs) in Libya. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have also announced that they will be hosting a train-and-equip program," the minister added.

The stated objective of the training of moderate rebels aimed to go after the network of Islamic State fighters in Syria.

Turkey, long-championed that the anti-IS coalition should also aim to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad regime, seemed to have been left alone in this demand.

The U.S. made it clear that the priority is to degrade and ultimately destroy the IS network, not Assad although the U.S. repeatedly said Assad lost his legitimacy to rule Syria and must step down.

However Turkish foreign minister stated late this week that "Those forces will fight both Daesh (another name for IS) and other terrorist organizations on the ground, as well as the regime. "

Syrian opposition leader Khaled Khoja explained last month that they're not allowed to go on the offensive against Syrian regime forces with weapons and equipment obtained as part of the program.

"We're allowed, however, to defend ourselves when we are under attack by the Syrian forces," Khoja told Istanbul-based Al Jazeera Turk TV.

Perhaps the agreement was inked in principle but details are still not being hammered out, Mesut Cevikalp, Turkish analyst told Xinhua.

"I appears a lot of arms twisting still going on between Ankara and Washington on several issues," he underlined.

Ambassador Thomas Krajeski, U.S. Senior Adviser for Foreign Fighters, told reporters on Friday that the priority is to weaken and eliminate the IS and both Turkey and the U.S. have agreement on that.

Perhaps that is the reason for Turkey's Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu's visit to Washington from Feb. 20-24 to meet with the U.S. officials.

The Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Thursday stating that the undersecretary will discuss current bilateral, regional and international issues with his counterparts.

Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz was already in Washington this week to lead the Turkish delegation at a three-day security summit hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama on violent extremism.

Ankara has come under intense criticism in recent years for its reluctance to support international efforts to fight with IS as the U.S. and other NATO allies have been pressuring Turkey to involve actively with the anti-IS coalition.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently admitted that his relationship with U.S. President Barack Obama turned sour.

On his way back to Turkey from his Latin American tour last weekend, the Turkish president admitted to reporters he had good relations with U.S. President Barack Obama early on but things turned sour later. Enditem