Biden Meets Erdogan Seeking To Ease Strains on Syria

US Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday meets Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan aiming to ease strains over the crisis in Syria and persuade Turkey to step up its support for the coalition against Islamic State (ISIS) militants. Washington is frustrated by the relatively limited role played by Turkey in the fight against ISIS who have seized swathes of Iraq and Syria right up to the Turkish border. Turkey in turn is upset that international focus has been on the threat of IS alone, feeling that the overall plight of Syrians is being ignored. Turkey also feels that its contribution in hosting 1.6 million refugees from the Syrian conflict has gone relatively unrecognized, and Ankara is wary of supporting the Kurdish fighters battling ISIS. Salem al-Meslet, spokesman for the Syrian Coalition, said that Turkey’s rejection of the Western calls to open the border in front of non-Syrian Kurdish fighters to defend Ayn al-Arab (Kobane) is realistic and justified as it illogical to throw civilians in armed conflict and without prior training, at a time when no tangible support has yet been received by the FSA which is the only credible force able to defeat ISIS. He also said that the FSA has driven ISIS out of more than 14 areas in Syria within a few days, while the military strikes being carried out by the international anti-ISIS coalition have so far failed to yield any tangible results on the ground, citing ISIS advance on the town of Ayn al-Arab (Kobane). Meslet points out that the international community bears the responsibility for the tragic situation in Syria as it has not outlines a clear and comprehensive strategy to fight extremism in the region, calling for the international anti-ISIS alliance to reconsider its strategy in the fight against terrorism.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)