U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter asked for more assistance from Turkey on Tuesday to help destroy Daesh terrorists as he kicked off a tour of the Middle East that aims to drum up regional support for the military campaign.
"Turkey has an enormous role to play," said Carter, on his first trip to Incirlik as defense secretary. "We appreciate what they're (Turkey is) doing. We want them to do more."
That includes Turkish forces joining "in the air and the ground as appropriate," Carter told reporters traveling with him. "The single most important contribution that their geography makes necessary is the control of their own border."
Incirlik has grown more important in the U.S.-led campaign of air strikes against Daesh, with 59 U.S., Turkish, Qatari and German aircraft now operating out of the base, up from about 15 from all coalition countries at the beginning of September, U.S. officials said.
Around 45 aircraft are from the United States and include both manned and unmanned. They conduct refueling, intelligence and strike missions, officials said.
On Monday, speaking after a meeting of the U.S. National Security Council at the Pentagon, President Barack Obama said Carter's trip to the region aimed to secure greater military contributions from allies in the campaign against Daesh.
Carter did not give details of the requests to allies but said different countries' contributions could include strike aircraft, intelligence flights, transport aircraft, help in controlling borders and helping U.S. efforts to train troops.
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia announced the formation of a 34-nation Muslim military coalition to combat terrorism.
Carter said Sunni Gulf Arab countries could encourage and help Sunni Muslim communities living in areas controlled by Daesh to resist their rule.
"That's something that obviously they can do that it's harder for other countries to do," he said.
"Different countries can make different kinds of contributions and over this trip and in the subsequent weeks and months I'll be asking them each to make the strongest, most robust possible contribution that they can."
Turkey has expanded operations against the terrorist group following suicide bombings of a peace rally in Ankara on Oct. 10, which killed 102 people.
According to reports, Turkish police have detained and deported a total of 560 foreigners over the past 16 months in Istanbul alone.
Turkey has been doing its part to identify and stop potential foreign fighters seeking to cross the border to Syria to join Daesh, despite little cooperation in intelligence sharing with its Western allies. As part of Turkey's efforts, police have tightened security at transfer points such as airports, terminals, bus stations and rental car companies. The police have done so by employing a special risk analysis system and a team tasked with tracking suspicious foreigners who travel to Turkey for the first time and minors who have not made hotel reservations.
