Turkey wants Syria ground operation, but says no consensus among allies

Turkey, Saudi Arabia and some European allies want ground troops deployed in Syria but there is no consensus in the coalition and a strategy for such an operation has not been seriously debated, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu said. 

Russian air strikes have helped to bring the Syrian army to  within 25 km (15 miles) of Turkey's borders, while Kurdish militia fighters, regarded by Ankara as hostile insurgents, have also gained ground, heightening the sense of urgency. 

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu told Reuters that any operation could not be left to regional powers alone. 

"Some countries like us, Saudi Arabia and some other Western European countries have said that a ground operation is necessary ... But to expect this only from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar is neither right nor realistic," he said in an interview. 

"If such an operation is to take place, it has to be carried out jointly, like the (coalition) air strikes," he said. 

Washington has so far ruled out sending its own ground troops into Syria, apart from small numbers of special forces. 

But Sunni Arab Gulf states including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have said they are ready to send ground forces as part of an international coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), providing Washington takes the lead. 

Çavu?o?lu said Turkey had repeatedly made the case for a more comprehensive strategy in Syria beyond air strikes but it had not been discussed seriously by the U.S.-led coalition. 

"Of course, there would be air strikes but a cleansing on the ground is also needed. I stated in every meeting ... that Daesh could not be destroyed or stopped by air strikes," he said, using an...