Paris: France's foreign minister said on Sunday that questions needed to be asked on whether Turkey was a viable partner in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.


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"There are questions that are being asked and we will ask them. It (Turkey) is partly viable, but there are suspicions as well. Let`s be honest about this," Jean-Marc Ayrault told France 3 television. 


He said he would raise the issue at meeting of the anti-Islamic state coalition in Washington next week.


A French official later sought to clarify Ayrault`s comments, saying he had not meant to put in question Turkey`s viability in the fight against Islamic State, and that Ankara remained a crucial partner for the coalition to that end. 


"Turkey is a big country, a country that has a strategic role, is a NATO member, the biggest border with Syria and welcomes some 2.5 million Syrian refugees and is an ally," Ayrault said in the interview.


Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan`s supporters rallied in public squares, at Istanbul airport and outside his palace overnight in a show of defiance after a failed coup attempt on Friday killed at least 265 people and raised expectations of a heavy crackdown on dissent.