U.S. has been encouraging Turkey to close border with Syria: White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has been encouraging Turkey to close its border with Syria, a White House spokesman said, commenting on Turkey's first major U.S.-backed incursion into its southern neighbor launched on Wednesday. "The United States has been encouraging the Turks for some time to take decisive action to close the Turkey-Syria border, particularly this portion of the border," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said at a White House briefing. (Reporting by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by James Dalgleish)