US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter on Tuesday visited the Turkish air base near Syria that has become a key hub for American-led air raids against Islamic State jihadists, urging Ankara to play a more active role in the coalition. Turkey earlier this year allowed US forces to use the Incirlik base outside the southern city of Adana for bombing raids against IS targets in Syria. The Turkish air force later also joined the campaign, making a handful of officially-announced air strikes, although it is unclear so far what impact its involvement has made.
"Turkey has an enormous role to play and... we appreciate what they're doing. We want them to do more," Carter told reporters while travelling to Incirlik, in a statement released by the Pentagon. He said Turkey could do even more beyond its role of hosting the coalition forces at Incirlik and should also ensure full control of the border with Syria. "We want Turkish forces to join in the air and the ground and as appropriate," Carter said, without giving further details. He also said Washington wanted to see Gulf counties in the coalition - which include Saudi Arabia and Qatar - to do more.