Are Russia & Turkey Coordinating Bombing of Islamic State?

MESOP NEWS TODAYS CRITICAL UPDATE SYRIA / MIDDLE EAST : EVERYBODY GOES WITH TURKEY =  PUTIN & USA / NOBODY GOES WITH PKK/PYD

January 19 – 2017 – By Scott Lucas – eaworldview – Russia’s military says it has coordinated airstrikes with Turkey against the Islamic State inside Syria for the first time, but Ankara has not confirmed the claim. Lieutenant-General Sergei Rudskoi said on Wednesday that the attacks were carried out near al-Bab, ISIS’s last major position in Aleppo Province.

A Turkish-rebel offensive has taken much of ISIS’s territory in northern Syria since last August, but it has struggled since early December to advance in the al-Bab area, northeast of Aleppo, with dozens of Turkish forces killed.Earlier this week the US confirmed its first strikes in support of the operation, after fierce criticism from Turkey — including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan — that a US-led coalition has offered no help, even as it backs the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces against ISIS in other parts of northern Syria.

Russia’s Rudskoi described “highly effective” operations on Wednesday:

The air operation, agreed on with the Syrian government, involves nine warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Force, including four Sukhoi Su-24M, four Sukhoi Su-25 aircraft and one Sukhoi Su-34 bomber, as well as four F-16 and four F-4 fighters of the Turkey’s Air Force. A total of 36 targets were planned to be hit.The general said the targets were agreed between Russian and Turkish General Staffs since Monday. But the Turkish military made no reference to the Russian report. It said instead that “164 Daesh terror targets, including hideouts, defense positions, command control facilities, weapons, and vehicles” were hit on Wednesday. The statement added that the US-led coalition attacked three targets.

The Daily Sabah site, close to President Erdoğan, cited the report of Russia’s Interfax news agency but offered no further comment.

Russia and Turkey have been on opposite sides for almost all of the six-year Syrian conflict, with Moscow backing the Assad regime and Turkey supporting the Syrian opposition and rebels. However, their cooperation has flourished since a reconciliation between Erdoğan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in August. Ankara agreed to accept the reoccupation of all of Aleppo city — facilitated by a siege and intense Russian bombing — by pro-Assad forces, while Moscow acceded to the Turkish-rebel offensive in Aleppo Province. The militaries of the two countries have established procedures for cooperation, including arrangements to ensure no accidental clashes between their air forces. www.mesop.de