On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accepted US President Barak Obama’s proposal for a joint operation to free Raqqa from Daesh.
"If we want to cleanse Syria and Iraq of Daesh [IS], it is important that we mount operations both in [Iraqi] Mosul and in Raqqa. We have always said that if we do not support local forces on the ground, if there is no land operation, it will not be possible to eliminate or even stop Daesh exclusively from the air," Cavusoglu said, as quoted by the Anadolu news agency.
"It is not just us but other countries that must train and equip local forces that must contribute and give direction," Cavusoglu stated.
The city of Raqqa is the de facto Daesh capital and their major stronghold in Syria. It has been under control of the jihadists since August 2014.
On August 24, Turkish forces, backed by US-led coalition aircraft, began a military operation dubbed Euphrates Shield to clear the Syrian town of Jarabulus and the surrounding area of the Daesh militant group.
