Obama Thanks Arab Leaders for Joining Syria Strikes, Kerry: Turkey to be ’on Frontlines’

Local Editor

US President Barack Obama thanked Arab leaders on Tuesday for joining a US-led coalition against extremists, winning pledges from his allies that they were in the fight for the long haul.

Speaking just hours after he launched air strikes against the so-called "Daesh" [ISIL] group in Syria, Obama said the coalition "represents partners and friends with which we have worked for many, many years to make sure that security and prosperity exists in this region." 

Flanked by US Secretary of State John Kerry and national security advisor Susan Rice, Obama told the leaders of Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq that he was "very appreciative" of their help.

Obama was "very clear in terms of actually laying out where we are..." a senior State Department official said.

The official stressed that "we would like to defeat ISIL as fast as we can, but that is not going to be possible," the official said. 

"Until you degrade ISIL ... to the point that it is not effectively controlling a quasi-state the size of Jordan, until you degrade it to the extent that it cannot control entire cities... then the chances of political outcomes and de-escalating conflicts are increasingly minimal," the State Department official said.

Obama warned the air strikes were "not the end of the effort but... rather a beginning," said the official. 

Meanwhile, Kerry said on Tuesday that Turkey had pledged to take part in the US-led coalition against Daesh following the release of 49 Turkish hostages.

"Turkey is very much part of this coalition, and Turkey will be very engaged on the frontlines of this effort," Kerry told a global counter-terrorism forum after meeting with Turkish officials.

Also speaking shortly after the United States and its Arab allies carried out air strikes in Syria, Kerry said the New York talks could not be happening at a more important time.

"Every single country here today is a critical part of an effort to address a global terrorist threat that is more diverse than ever before," Kerry said.

The Daesh militants were "cold-blooded killers masquerading as a religious movement" which had been "fed by illicit funding and a stream of foreign fighters that have regrettably come from many of the countries around this table, mine included," Kerry said.

Later on Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed the US-led air strikes in Syria, saying Ankara could provide military or logistical support for the campaign.

"I look at it [the air strikes] in a positive way. It would be wrong if they stopped. This roadmap should be continued," he told Turkish reporters in New York in comments broadcast by Turkish television. 

Asked how Turkey would contribute to the operation, Erdogan said: "We will take whatever steps necessary to combat terrorism."

"This involves all kinds of support, including military and political. It involves political or logistic support," said Erdogan, who is in New York to attend the UN General Assembly.

Turkey had been criticized for doing little to fight the rise of Daesh militants who have seized swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria dangerously close to its own borders.

Furthermore, Erdogan did not give details of the kind of military and logistical support Ankara could provide.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team