US military team to visit Turkey to discuss ISIL war

"A joint military planning team will visit Ankara early next week to follow up in military-to-military channels," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Thursday.
 
The meeting will take place as Ankara has not outlined any specific commitment to Washington after two top US envoys met Thursday with Turkish leaders on the issue.
 
The two senior officials discussed several measures to “advance the military line of effort against ISIL," Psaki said.
 
They also had "emphasized that urgent steps are immediately required to degrade ISIL's military capabilities and ongoing ability to threaten the region," she added.
 
Frustration is growing in Washington over the Turkish government’s inaction as ISIL militants continue to seize more territory along the Syrian-Turkish border.
 
Psaki said the ongoing discussions were focused on determining what role Turkish officials were “willing to play in the coalition efforts.”
 
She added that "there is no question that Turkey is well-positioned to contribute."
 
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday that the key military assistance the United States would like to get from Turkey included access to a Turkish airbase at Incirlik, as well as an agreement for arming and training “moderate” Syrian militants.
 
He said US officials would be raising those issues with Turkish leaders in the upcoming discussions.
 
Hagel said a Turkish request for the US to set up a safe zone along Turkey's border with Syria was not "actively being considered." He, however, added that US officials were open to a discussion about it in the meetings.
 
Ankara has been calling on the US to create a no-fly zone along its border with Syria to protect Syrian refugees and bolster Turkey's borders.