Shayrat missile strike

Senior Turkish officials have expressed Ankara’s willingness to re-build a trust-based relationship with the United States but have underlined its expectations to see concrete measures taken from its ally, particularly on its cooperation with a terror-affiliated group in Syria, in a direct message on the eve of two key visits from Washington in the coming days.

U.S. President Donald Trump's warning to the Syrian government not to carry out a chemical weapons attack appears to have worked, Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said on June 28.

"It appears that they took the warning seriously," Mattis said, referring to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may be preparing another chemical weapons attack, one that would result in the "mass murder" of civilians, the White House said on June 26, warning the regime would pay a "heavy price" if it went ahead with such an assault.

The White House has declared that it believes Bashar al-Assad's regime is preparing to carry out another chemical weapons attack, and warned that the Syrian leader and his military would "pay a heavy price" if it went ahead, according to the Guardian.