Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday accused the international coalition battling Deash (Islamic State) in Syria of leaving his country to fight the extremists alone on its own soil.
“They have left us alone in our struggle against this organisation which is shedding our blood both through suicide bombings and by attacks on Kilis,” he said, referring to a Turkish border town regularly targeted by rockets fired from Syria.
“In Syria none of those who say they are fighting Daesh (ISIS) have suffered the kind of losses that we have, nor paid such a heavy price as us,” added Erdogan.
Turkey is on maximum alert after a series of attacks attributed to ISIS in recent months, with Ankara and Istanbul among the places targeted.
Last summer Turkish forces began carrying out air strikes against the group across the border.
The border town of Kilis has come under frequent attack from rockets fired across the border from Syria that have killed at least 21 people, prompting the army to respond with howitzer fire.
Ankara also allows US jets to use its air base in southern Turkey for air strikes on the extremist group.
Turkey, a member of NATO and the US-led coalition against ISIS, has recently appeared to increase its bombardment of ISIS targets in Syria.
