Safety for brides of ISIS not locked in

Turkey says it can’t guarantee the safety of Australian ISIS brides and children in northern Syria.

Turkey's Ambassador to Australia Korhan Karakoc at the Embassy in Canberra. Picture: Kym Smith

Turkey says it cannot guarantee the safety of Australian Islamic State brides and children in northern Syria as it presses its ­attack on Kurdish forces.

Turkey’s ambassador to Australia, Korhan Karakoc, said his country did not pose any threat to ISIS prisoners and their families, but warned they might be left exposed if their Kurdish guards abandoned their posts. “Of course they are safe (from Turkey) because this camp is out of the operation area,” Mr Karakoc said.

“There is no imminent threat for those in that camp, unless those who guard that camp ­release them intentionally.”

There are growing fears that 66 Australian women and children in the al-Hawl refugee camp could be in danger from Syria’s Assad regime — which executes ISIS prisoners — if their guards flee to engage Turkish forces.

Mr Karakoc said Turkey was taking “all necessary steps” to avoid civilian casualties, and to ensure detained ISIS militants did not escape.

The al-Hawl camp is south of the current Turkish advance. Mr Karakoc said Turkey would take custody of ISIS members and their families being held in detention facilities and camps “in areas to be freed of terror”.

“We are also ready to work ­together with the countries of ­origin, and international organisations, for the rehabilitation of spouses and children,” the ­ambassador said.

Amid growing Western anger over the Turkish invasion, Mr Karakoc said the US and Australia had chosen the wrong friends in allying with Kurdish forces to defeat ISIS terrorists in Iraq.

“It was a tactical engagement, maybe,” he said. “I don’t know. But it was a huge mistake by some of our allies. And today, now, we are trying to restore these things.

“We have been warning our friends for four years to not arm a terrorist group — a sworn enemy of the Turkish state — just for the sake of fighting ISIS.”

Turkey regards the mostly Kurdish Syrian Defence Force as a terrorist organisation.

Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, a former SAS captain, praised the Kurds’ sacrifice in taking on ISIS, and blasted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his ­decision to attack following the withdrawal of US troops.

“Many Kurds lost their lives putting Islamic State to the sword,” Mr Hastie said. “They shouldered much of the close combat defending innocent people from terrorists and murderers. So this recent violence — instigated unilaterally by Turkey — after all that has been achieved by the Coalition in the last five years, is very troubling.”

Foreign Minister Marise Payne spoke to her Turkish counterpart on Sunday, warning that the military assault had “grave consequences for regional security” by undermining the fight against Islamic State. “Amongst other things, it will significantly undermine the gains that have been made by the international coalition in our fight against Daesh (Islamic State) and, without question, Daesh continues to be a serious threat to regional peace and security, despite its territorial defeat,” she told parliament on Tuesday.

“It will certainly cause additional civilian suffering. It will lead to greater population displacement …”

Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Vice-President Mike Pence would head to Turkey to negotiate a ceasefire to the ­conflict in Syria. The move followed the US decision to clear 1000 personnel who had kept the opposing forces apart.

Mr Pence plans to meet Mr Erdogan on Thursday, as fresh tariffs are imposed on Turkish steel imports and new sanctions on Turkey’s defence and energy ministers.