US, Turkey mull strategy against ISIS as Kerry arrives in Ankara
by Daily Sabah
ISTANBULSep 12, 2014 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Daily Sabah
Sep 12, 2014 12:00 am
Top diplomats from the U.S. and Turkey met on Friday to discuss what Ankara is willing to contribute to a growing worldwide coalition to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) militant group.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is paying a two-day visit to Ankara for a series of meetings following his Middle East tour as part of the U.S.'s efforts to gain support fighting against ISIS. Kerry, speaking to the press at the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Friday, said he and his team will have a very agenda and they look forward to constructive conversations with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and his counterpart Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.
Kerry and Çavuşoğlu met for the third time since the NATO summit in Wales in early September. "[W]e are important partners, obviously, in NATO, but not just in NATO. We have concerns with respect to what's happening from Libya to Mali to the Horn of Africa and throughout the Middle East, and of course, now the events in Iraq. So we have a great deal to talk about," Kerry said.
"We will be chairing a counter-terrorism forum at the U.N. Security Council in a few days," Kerry said. His visit comes after 10 Arab states signed a joint communique in the western Saudi city of Jeddah on Thursday to fight ISIS, pledging to take action to stop the flow of fighters joining the group.
After days of holding meetings behind closed doors, Turkish officials have reportedly decided to provide support to the growing anti-ISIS coalition, including intelligence, humanitarian and security assistance. However, Turkey will not engage in active military activities against ISIS, which has held 49 of its citizens hostage for the past three months. Ten countries have formed a coalition against ISIS on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Wales: the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, Poland, Canada and Turkey as well as non-NATO member Australia. However, according to U.S. officials, more than 40 countries have agreed to be a part of the coalition. According to media reports, Turkey will not allow the coalition to attack ISIS in Iraq and Syria from its air bases, nor will it take part in combat operations.
Other than contributing to the coalition by other means, Turkey will cooperate with Western countries in stopping potential ISIS fighters. Çavuşoğlu recently said more than 6,000 foreigners who were considered potential terrorists have been banned from entering Turkey.
Furthermore, battling the influx of foreign fighters from Europe seeking to join violent armed factions in Syria such as ISIS, Turkish authorities detained many foreign nationals, including German and French citizens, attempting to cross the border into Syria.
U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday laid out a long-term U.S. strategy against ISIS that will include expanding airstrikes against its fighters in Iraq, launching strikes against them in Syria for the first time and bolstering the Iraqi military and moderate Syrian rebels to allow them to reclaim territory from the militants.
Speaking to his counterparts during the two-day NATO summit, Erdoğan criticized Turkey's allies for not taking effective necessary measures to stop their citizens from leaving their countries to join ISIS in war-torn Syria and Iraq, both of which border Turkey. Addressing the heads of NATO member countries, Erdoğan said that keeping silent about massacres by regimes in the region is paving the way for terrorist organizations, and thus, necessary measures should be taken immediately and with determination to confront terror activities that threaten global security and stability.
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