Ibrahim Kalin

Turkey's İncirlik Air Base, which is one of the main hubs for the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has been "absolutely invaluable" in the anti-ISIL campaign, the coalition said on Jan. 4, while Turkey has once again questioned the use of the air base.

Turkey has told U.S. officials it has not received sufficient support in its fight against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the last month-and-a-half and expects full support in its bid to drive the jihadists out of Syria's al-Bab, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's spokesman said on Jan. 5.

Turkey has stated to senior employees of the US administration that it has not received sufficient support in its fight against Islamic State in the last month and a half and it expects full support for driving out the jihadists out of the Syrian city of al-Bab, said the spokesperson of the Turkish President Recep Erdogan, cited by Reuters.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed a cease-fire agreed by Bashar al-Assad's regime and opposition groups, as well as the upcoming Astana talks, in a phone conversation on Dec. 29, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported. 

Ankara has criticized international coalition forces for not doing enough to support Turkey in its offensive on al-Bab against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), calling especially for U.S. backing for the operation.

Although the Syrian armed opposition has lost its six-year war to declare Aleppo the “capital of the revolution” and the Syrian equation has changed drastically, the curtain is not yet down on this act of the bloody play.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed in a phone call with his Turkish and Russian counterparts the possibility of hosting Syria talks in Astana.      

Evacuations in Aleppo have resumed after at least four civilians were killed and another four were injured when Iranian-backed Shiite militias opened fire on the convoy.
The convoy was previously forced to return to Aleppo after the attack.

The first convoy of people requiring medical attention started to leave rebel-held east Aleppo, private broadcaster CNN Türk has reported.

The convoy began a journey which will take patients through government territory into the rebel-held western Aleppo countryside as agreed in an evacuation deal this week.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has converted all his currency into the Turkish Lira, his spokesman has said, upon questions from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader over the president's participation in the campaign to shore up the struggling lira.