[Hurriyet Daily News] Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said Syrian opposition groups to be trained and equipped by a joint U.S.-Turkey program will also fight against the Syrian regime.
The trained Syrian opposition members are "expected to fight against the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
of Iraq and the Levant [ISIL] and elements of the [Syrian] regime," Cavusoglu said Feb. 19 to answer whether the program also aims to struggle against Syrian regime forces. Turkey and the U.S. were on the same page on this issue, Cavusoglu said.
The trained Syrian opposition members would "naturally fight against elements threatening the integrity of Syria," he said, noting that both "terrorist organizations, especially ISIL and the Syrian regime, are a threat to Syria's stability. ... They both kill innocent people," he said.
The train-equip deal between Turkey and the U.S. is at the last stage and would be signed shortly, Cavusoglu said while speaking at a joint presser with Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be sealed by U.S. Ambassador to Ankara John Bass and a Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu within several days, a Turkish official told the Hurriyet Daily News. Sinirlioglu will travel to Washington next week and a visit by Foreign Minister Cavusoglu to the U.S. is also planned, the official also said.
Turkey offered a vague definition on the MoU for the target of the trained Syrian opposition fighters, as Turkey insists the struggle should not only be directed against ISIL bully boys, but also against Syrian regime forces.
Training of the Peshmerga in northern Iraq will also be a part of the MoU between Turkey and the U.S., as 20 Turkish soldiers will participate in the training program of Kurdish forces as part of the struggle against ISIL.
Meanwhile,
...back at the saloon, Butch got the bill for the damage caused by the fist fight, the mirror broken in the shootout, and drinks for everyone......
citing U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan De Mistura's plan to freeze the fighting in the Syrian city of Aleppo, Cavusoglu said Turkey supported the envoy's plan despite its "flaws" because even one day of a cease-fire would prevent the killing of hundreds of people.
He questioned whether the cease-fire would be practiced by the regime forces.
"A rooted solution is needed in Syria," Cavusoglu said.
Syrian  Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs...
should leave power and a national administration should replace him so that a real solution can be achieved the minister noted.
Elaborating on his meeting with U.S. Congressman Michael Turner -- a long-time member of the House Armed Services Committee -- and U.S. Senator Bob Corker on Feb. 19, Cavusoglu said they discussed bilateral and regional issues such as Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Ukraine.
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