As Ankara steps up its fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), the PKK and the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), both Democrat and Republican members of U.S. Congress have stated their support for the fight.Speaking to the U.S. government's official external broadcaster, the Voice of America (VOA), on Tuesday, Maryland Senator Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, commented on Turkey's recent operations against terrorist organizations, saying: "Clearly Turkey is exerting itself more in the region, becoming more of a player, and seeking a greater unity with NATO."In addition, Cardin welcomed the efforts to fight against extremists, considering that Turkey and the U.S. are allies. "At the end of the day, it is going to be good news in our campaign against ISIS. So having the cooperation of Turkey gives us more options," he said.Turkey on Wednesday signed a deal with the United States, allowing the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition to use the İncirlik Air Base, which further strengthened the mutual cooperation between Turkey and the U.S. against terrorist organizations.Republican Senator Johnny Isakson, the senior senator from Georgia, said on Tuesday, a day before the deal, his satisfaction after Turkey had considered a possible authorization for the use of İncirlik Airbase: "Strategically, [İncirlik] is very well located. The Turks have not allowed us to use İncirlik [in the past] so the fact they are now considering it, I think, bodes well."Ankara's decision to give the U.S.-led coalition access to use its air bases came following the suspected ISIS suicide bombing on July 20in the southeastern town of Suruç, which killed 32 people and injured more than 100. A day later, government officials arranged an immediate meeting, which was followed by another security summit in which security measures and strategies in further combating ISIS were discussed.The support voiced for Turkey by U.S. members of Congress were followed on Wednesday by White House deputy spokesman Eric Schultz's statement with respect to PKK attacks on the military, police and civilians. "We condemn the PKK's attacks. … It is a foreign terrorist organization [and] we respect Turkey's rights to defend itself," he said.Pointing to the close alliance between Turkey and the U.S., with both countries being members of NATO, Schultz said that the U.S. backs Turkey in the fight against ISIS together with the train-and-equip program, intelligence sharing and operational coordination.