27 February 2017•Update: 28 February 2017
ANKARA
The commander of a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group conducting missions against Daesh has described to Anadolu Agency the importance of Turkey’s involvement in fighting the terrorist group in Syria and northern Iraq.
Speaking onboard the USS H.W. Bush aircraft carrier on Monday, Rear Admiral Kenneth Whitesell said: "We can’t do this now without Turkey’s cooperation and friendship. You are very important for us to be able to do our mission."
He described the ties between the two countries as a "very good relationship, a very friendly relationship".
Whitesell said their role in the Mediterranean was to conduct strike operations on Daesh targets in Syria and northern Iraq as part of Operation Inherent Resolve.
"So that’s what we are doing and we have been doing this for about eight days now and we got a couple more weeks to go before we go into another theater of operations," he said.
Whitesell said his forces flew about eight to nine sorties a day but are still awaiting information from the Combined Air Operations Center in Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar on how many targets they had destroyed so far.
The USS George H.W. Bush, with the callsign "Avenger," can carry 85 aircraft and helicopters, and has about 6,000 crew members.
Admiral Whitesell said the friendship between Turkey and U.S. -- both NATO members -- was based on mutual trust, adding that they could not carry out Operation Inherent Resolve without Ankara’s help.
"They [Turkey] are in charge of the procedural control of aircraft from the George H.W. Bush going through the northern route, Turkish air traffic control,” Whitesell said.
He added: "Turkey has been very accommodating. We have rules we have to go by before we are allowed to come into Turkey. We have been abiding by those rules."
Incirlik Air Base
Whitesell also stressed the importance of Incirlik Air Base, near the southern Turkish city of Adana.
"Turkish controllers have been very accommodating. They allow us to fly to Incirlik and then once we get under U.S. Air Force control we land at Incirlik air force base and refuel and then go back and do our strikes. That base is very, very important to us," he added.
Colonel Will Pennington, a command officer aboard the George H.W. Bush, said the base was very important, adding that they were able to use it when their planes were forced to land.
Turkey has taken an active role in the international fight against Daesh in both Iraq and Syria. Turkish troops also provide training to local fighters in Bashiqa, northeast of Mosul.
In Syria, the Turkish military recently announced its ongoing Operation Euphrates Shield had seen the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) wresting control of Al-Bab -- 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of the Turkish-Syrian border -- from Daesh.
The Turkish-led Operation Euphrates Shield began on 24 Aug. 2016 to improve security, support coalition forces and eliminate the terror threat along the Turkish border using FSA fighters backed by Turkish artillery and jets.
*Reporting by Sarp Ozer; Writing by Fatma Bulbul
