Anti-ISIL fight alla Turca

Defense Minister ?smet Y?lmaz said on April 13 that theTurkish security forces had killed 362 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants since July 2015 with its cross-border artillery fire against targets in Syria.

He made this statement in the Syria border town of Kilis, where he was sent by Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu to stage inspections, together with Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar and National Intelligence Organization (M?T) Chief Hakan Fidan. According to official sources, the reason for the inspections was the falling of ISIL shells on Kilis for three consecutive days, causing civilian causalities. 

Some 120,000 Syrian migrants are living in Kilis, which had an original population of just 90,000. For that reason the Turkish government has backed the idea that the Nobel Peace Prize should be given to the town as a symbol of the peaceful cohabitation of migrants and hosts. A ceremony has been scheduled to take place on April 16 to announce the candidacy, but it was made clear on April 13 that a much desired guest, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who reportedly backed the idea, will not be coming.

Kilis, already targeted by ISIL attacks, is likely to be even more on the frontline in the event of a move by the U.S.-led coalition against ISIL, as it is close to the much discussed "Jarabulus-Mare line," a key front in the fight against the terrorist organization.

Ankara wants to make it clear that Turkey is a target of ISIL and is doing its best to fight against it. But on the same day as the high-level security inspection along the border, there were press reports regarding a security flop ahead of the major ISIL bombing that claimed many lives in Ankara last October. Daily Cumhuriyet quoted an investigation...

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