ANKARA (Reuters) — Turkey has not reached a new agreement to let the United States use its Incirlik air base in the fight against Islamic State militants, and talks are continuing on the subject, sources at the Turkish prime minister's office said on Monday.
Turkey had reached an agreement with Washington on the training of Syrian rebels, the sources told reporters, without saying who would train the insurgents or where.
The comments come after US National Security Adviser Susan Rice said Turkey had agreed to let forces from a US-led military coalition use its bases for activities inside Iraq and Syria and to train moderate Syrian rebels.
"The Turks have, this just in the last several days, made a commitment that they will in the first instance allow the United States and our partners to use Turkish bases and territory to train ... the moderate Syrian opposition forces," Rice said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"So that is a new commitment that they have now joined Saudi Arabia in giving the go-ahead for that important contribution. In addition, they have said that their facilities inside of Turkey can be used by the coalition forces, American and otherwise, to engage in activities inside of Iraq and Syria."
US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel called Turkish Minister of Defense Ismet Yilmaz on Sunday, and a Department of Defense spokesman said Hagel thanked his Turkish counterpart for providing the support in the fight against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
"Secretary Hagel thanked Minister Yilmaz for Turkey's willingness to contribute to coalition efforts, to include hosting and conducting training for Syrian opposition members," Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said in a readout of the call.
The US and Turkey have exhibited public disagreement over the strategy to confront ISIS, presenting a potentially key rift in the fragile coalition.
Turkey has been unwilling to intervene in the battle in the Syrian border town of Kobani, causing frustration and exposing a fundamental disagreement between allies over how to confront the extremist group.
Under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has maintained a passive role while the US has ramped up airstrikes in and around the town on targets held by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. Turkey wants the US to commit to ousting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
(Reuters reporting by Ozge Ozbilgin; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Andrew Heavens)