Turkey begins airstrikes against Islamic State targets

ANKARA, Turkey, July 24 (UPI) -- Turkey's first airstrikes on Islamic State positions in Syria Friday reinforced a major policy change to directly confront the militant group.

Three Turkish F-16 fighter planes left an airbase in Turkey and struck two IS command centers and a barracks with guided missiles on the Syria-Turkey border, a statement from Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said. It was followed by the detention of 297 suspected terrorists in raids across Turkey by security forces.

"Turkey maintains its sensitivity against this terrorist organization. As demanded by our sensitivity, the first decisive step has been taken overnight. We have now undertaken a much, much more different battle, and we will do whatever it takes in this fight, until the end," Davutoglu later said.

The airstrikes came after a top-level security meeting in Ankara, the capital, Thursday to discuss Turkey's precautions against IS. The meeting came after the Turkish government confirmed U.S. aircraft would be permitted to use Incirlik air base to begin missions against IS in Syria and Iraq. The change of policy by the Turkish government has been long sought by Washington; the base in southern turkey offers a relatively short route to northward Syria.

The apparent shift follows the explosion of a suicide bomb Monday in a town on the Syria-Turkey border which killed 30 people.

Anthony Skinner of the British analysis firm Verisk Maplcroft told Bloomberg News the change in Turkish policy comes after "the combination of pressure from the U.S. and other NATO allies, along with the realization that Daesh (IS) poses a real security threat to Turkey. Turkey will be even more exposed as time goes on."

While Turkey is formally a member of the U.S.-led coalition against IS in the Middle East, it has preferred a background, non-combat role.