Saddle Up

Hagel Urges Turkey to Join ISIS Fight

By letting U.S. aircraft use its bases.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says he wants Turkey to participate more in the campaign against ISIS militants, noting that the country could allow U.S. aircraft to use its bases, as well as train and equip moderate Syrian rebels. Hagel made his comments to reporters en route to Colombia on Thursday, as retired Gen. John Allen arrived in Ankara to try and persuade the Turkish government to take a more active role against Islamic State extremists. Allen is coordinating the U.S.-led effort against ISIS. Hagel said Turkey wants a buffer zone along the border to stop the spillover of violence, and for the U.S. to establish a no-fly zone, but he said Washington is not considering either proposal at the moment. Turkey has been criticized for standing by as ISIS wages a fierce battle to conquer the Syrian town of Kobani, a mostly Kurdish community near the Turkish border.