Biden Visit Indicative Of 'Strong Alliance' Between US, Turkey

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest has said that US Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Turkey and the long meetings Biden had with both President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu are indicative of a strong alliance between the US and Turkey.

Speaking at the daily press conference, Earnest said on Monday that the visit is indicative of a couple of things.

“First, it's indicative of the strong alliance that exists between the United States and Turkey. It also is indicative of the strong relationships that the vice president personally has with those two leaders. It's also indicative of the significant stake that Turkey has in the outcome in Syria, and in degrading and ultimately destroying ISIL [the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant],” said Earnest.

He recalled that Turkey shares a long border with Syria and made mention of the humanitarian situation that has arisen due to a massive refugee influx to Turkey from the Syrian border.

Earnest said that Biden's visit was just the latest in what will continue to be “extensive consultations” between US and Turkish officials regarding operations against ISIL.

“In terms of any agreements or progress on those conversations, I'd refer you to the vice president's office for more details,” he said.

The US has been pushing Turkey to approve expanded access for US-led coalition forces to İncirlik Air Base, which is in close proximity to ISIL targets in both Syria and Iraq. The US administration also wants to use Turkish air space for military air strikes.

Turkey, for its part, has pushed for the removal from power of the Bashar al-Assad regime, while the US says Assad is not a priority and that coalition forces need to tackle the immediate threat of ISIL. Turkey also supports the establishment of an internationally accepted no-fly or safe zone inside Syria to curb the refugee influx. The idea hasn't received support from the US.

Despite positive official statements given by Turkey and the US, the two allies have not been able to make much progress on the issues on which they have different views. Biden returned to Washington empty-handed, without receiving any guarantees from the Turkish government over the use of Turkish air space or expanded access to the İncirlik Air Base. And Turkey was not given positive signals regarding the removal of the Assad regime or on the establishment of a no-fly zone inside Syria.

Biden met with Erdoğan for almost four hours on Saturday. According to a senior administration official, half of the meeting was one-on-one, with no other officials in attendance from either side.

"They didn't sit there and sign their names on the bottom line on a whole host of agreements. But actually, I think we came to a much greater clarity about where we need to go from here," a senior US official said after the meeting between the two leaders.

Erdoğan: 'They have only one sensitivity: oil'

According to a Reuters report, Turkish and US forces will train 2,000 moderate Syrian rebels at a base in the central city of Kırşehir as part of an agreement between Turkey and the US, a Turkish Foreign Ministry official said. The Foreign Ministry has not returned calls from Today's Zaman on the matter as part of a not-openly-declared media ban that has been in effect for almost a month now.

Ankara and Washington were in “complete agreement” about the threat of ISIL, according to the senior US official.

The US reluctance to confront Assad, who is backed by Iran, stems from the fear of derailing negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. Iran and six Western powers failed to reach an agreement on Monday on the nuclear talks.

Due to these difficulties, Turkey and US cooperation will focus on the training of Syrian moderate opposition forces. The training is expected to start within months, Reuters reported. Turkey insists that the trained Syrian opposition should fight not only against ISIL but also Assad's forces as well, while Washington wants the focus to remain on ISIL.

Following Biden's visit, President Erdoğan signaled on Monday that the two allies were not able to come to an agreement over their differences regarding Syria policies.

“I'm always meeting with them but I stick to what I've said,” Erdoğan said on Monday at a conference for a women's advocacy group in İstanbul.

“They have only one sensitivity: oil,” he added.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) foreign policy chief, Yasin Aktay, echoed Erdoğan's remarks on Monday. During an interview with A Haber television, Aktay said: “When oil comes up, then the West starts to raise its voice.” He also claimed that US policy in the region has been a “complete fiasco.”

Aktay also said previous US interventions in the region have failed and that “everyone wants Turkey to be more effective in the region, because those who've intervened have done nothing good.”

He claimed that using the wrong approach in the region will create more organizations like ISIL.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)