WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. partnership with Turkey in countering Islamic State is “very strong,” U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said at a news conference on Thursday. “With respect to Turkey, our partnership is very strong in the counter-ISIL campaign,” Carter said, using an acronym for Islamic State. Carter made the comments after Turkish air strikes pounded a group of Kurdish fighters allied to a U.S.-backed militia in northern Syria overnight, highlighting the conflicting agendas of NATO members Ankara and Washington in an increasingly complex battlefield. 
U.S. partnership with Turkey in Islamic State fight 'very strong'