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ISIS directing attacks in Turkey from Raqqa...

Directed from Raqqa, Islamic State cell 'wages war' in Turkey
Fri Sep 2, 2016 | GAZIANTEP, Turkey - As U.S.-led coalition jets from a Turkish air base began to pound Islamic State targets in Syria in the summer of 2015, Ilhami Bali passed on what appeared to be an order from the militant group's leadership in Raqqa: unleash war on Turkey.

Bali, identified by Turkish prosecutors as the most senior Islamic State figure in Turkey, asked a fellow militant in the border city of Gaziantep to draw up a list of potential targets. Cash, suicide bombers and equipment would be sent from Syria, he said. "Turkey has waged war on us ... so we're waging war back," the Turkish national wrote in an email from Syria, according to documents prepared by Ankara prosecutors and reviewed by Reuters. "I asked who should we hit and they say it does not matter; be it PKK (Kurdish militants), be it Turkish soldiers, be it tourist spots. Whatever you have planned." The email was sent to Yunus Durmaz, who prosecutors say co-founded Islamic State's Gaziantep cell along with Bali. Durmaz provided a long list of possible targets, including NATO Patriot missile batteries, foreign missions, U.N. offices and a popular nightclub in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya.

Turkish armoured personnel carriers are driven towards the border in Karkamis on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern Gaziantep province, Turkey​

Documents that form part of a judicial investigation into the cell, which Turkish prosecutors say carried out at least two major bombings last year, give a rare insight into the genesis and operations of the wider Islamic State network in Turkey. Islamic State has grown increasingly active in Turkey, according to the government which blames it for seven suicide bombings across the country over the past year, though the group has not claimed responsibility for the attacks. The prosecution documents show how suspected members of the Gaziantep cell set up safe houses to accommodate fighters, facilitated the passage of some to Syria, rented depots to store weapons and ammunition, paid salaries, kept records of expenses and made bombs and suicide vests with components purchased inside Turkey.

A family member of a victim of a suicide bombing at a wedding celebration mourns over his coffin during a funeral ceremony in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep, Turkey​

Having a strong presence in Turkey has been crucial to Islamic State's Middle Eastern battle plans and their attempts to strike at the West, as they use the NATO country as a transit route for fighters and equipment. Hundreds of Turks have been recruited to fight in Syria, while weapons experts say Turkey has become the most important source for components to make improvised bombs used by Islamic State forces.

A damaged house is seen after a suspected suicide bomber targeted a wedding celebration in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, Turkey​

Turkey has also been used as the gateway between the group's territory, in Iraq and Syria, and Europe - where it has carried out attacks in countries including France and Belgium. The country is also traditionally a popular destination for Western tourists, who have been struck in at least two of the Turkish bombings blamed on Islamic State earlier this year. The documents regarding the Gaziantep cell were prepared by prosecutors based on suspects' testimonies, email exchanges, security camera footage and digital evidence collected during police raids. An official at Ankara's main courthouse verified the documents were genuine. The Ankara prosecutors' office could not be reached for comment on the cell or the investigation.

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Turkey has cleared Islamic State, Kurdish force from area of north Syria: president
Fri Sep 2, 2016 - Turkey has swept Islamic State and the Kurdish YPG militia from an area of northern Syria, but Syrian Kurdish forces have still not met a Turkish demand to withdraw to the east of the Euphrates river, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.

Turkey launched a cross-border offensive into Syria last week, saying it had a dual aim of driving away jihadists and ensuring Kurdish forces did not fill the void that was left by extending their control of territory along Turkey's border. Turkey is concerned that Syrian Kurdish fighters could embolden Kurdish militants waging an insurgency on its soil. The United States has been alarmed by Turkey's offensive against Kurdish forces, which Washington has supported. U.S. officials have urged Ankara to focus its attacks on Islamic State instead.

A member of Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA), seen with a mural of the Islamic State in the background, stands guard in front of a building in the border town of Jarablus, Syria​

Erdogan told a news conference early on Friday morning that the operation dubbed "Euphrates Shield" had been successful in clearing Islamic State and Kurdish YPG from a 400 sq km (150 square mile) area. But he dismissed claims that the Kurdish YPG, which Ankara calls a terrorist group, had withdrawn to a Kurdish-controlled canton to the east of the Euphrates River. The YPG says it has done so and U.S. officials agree that is mostly the case. "At the moment, they are saying the YPG has crossed," Erdogan said. "We are saying no they didn't. The proof depends on our own observation."

The Kurdish YPG is part of a broader U.S.-backed coalition in Syria, called the Syrian Democratic Forces. Washington has supported the group in its battle against Islamic State but Ankara sees it as an extension of the PKK, the outlawed Kurdish militant group in Turkey. "Nobody can expect us to allow a terror corridor on our southern border," Erdogan said, adding that said Turkey had sought the establishment of a "safe zone" in Syria, but said the idea had not received the backing of other world powers.

Turkey has cleared Islamic State, Kurdish force from area of north Syria: president