Turkey Denies Claims Of Links To Daesh

Turkey's prime minister on Tuesday denied any links between the Turkish government and Daesh.



Ahmet Davutoglu told parliament the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party "has and will have no collaboration with terrorism, violence and cruelty in any term, any year, any month, any day, any hour, any minute and any second when it is ruling."



His comments were supported by Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.



"In the last two weeks, there have been a number of attempts to associate Turkey with Daesh over the attacks on Kobani and Tal Abyad," Kalin told reporters at a press conference in Ankara, referring to two Syrian towns near Turkey's 900 kilometer (560 mile) border with Syria.



Referring to reports that Turkey wishes to establish a buffer zone on the border, Kalin said the government wanted to establish "safe haven and no-fly zone" in Syria to protect the border and safeguard refugees but denied it would amount to a "buffer zone".



He added:  "These security measures aim to provide security for our citizens and our borders."



Asked about the Syrian government's possible collaboration with Daesh, Kalin claimed the regime had used the group to "divide, weaken, split and hit the Free Syrian Army and other opposition groups".



Turkey is currently looking after around two million refugees who have fled the violence in Iraq and Syria. - Ankara