Turkey, US Downplay Differences on ISIS War

Turkish PM Reiterates Demands for No-Fly Zone

Vice President Joe Biden was in Turkey to meet with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu today, and the two sought to downplay the increasingly serious differences over how the war on ISIS is being fought.

Turkey, with a long border to ISIS territory, has been dealing with influxes of refugees from the war-torn region, and has been pushing for a more aggressive war aimed at creating a “buffer zone” in northern Syria to house the refugees. The zone would also be used as a base of operations for pro-US rebels.

Biden insisted the public disagreements proved how close the two nations are, and that they would eventually be on the same page on the matter. Davutoglu, however, insisted that Turkey will continue to push its position, and called for a no-fly zone against Assad government forces across northern Syria.

Davutoglu also reiterated Turkish demands for Assad to be forcibly removed from power as soon as possible. Though nominally the US continues to push toward regime change as well, they have also conceded that they are not doing anything concrete to actually see it happen.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.