Turkey-US agree on Iraq, disagree on Syrian front in anti-ISIL fight

Neither Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan nor U.S. Vice President Joe Biden were able to convince each other on their priorities in the Syrian front of the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during an almost four-hour meeting in Istanbul on Nov. 22, according to ranking Turkish officials.

They both agree that ISIL has to be fought, and they both agree that without Bashar al-Assad leaving power there will be no rest in the country. But Turkey declines to be a fully-fledged part of the anti-ISIL coalition unless the U.S. agrees to adopt an “integrated strategy” that also targets the removal of al-Assad from power. The U.S. declines to do this, and also declines to call for a no-fly zone in Syrian air space to stop air attacks on the Syrian armed opposition and provide protection for refugees.

As a result, Biden returns empty handed to Washington regarding the opening of the strategic air base Ä°ncirlik in southern Turkey, Turkish participation in air strikes against ISIL, and wider scale military cooperation.

However, Turkey will continue to cooperate with the U.S. and other members of the coalition against ISIL on the “tactical level” as one diplomatic source put it. That means cooperation against foreign fighters, on intelligence sharing, and on border security will be “stepped up,” as well as cooperation regarding the Kurdish-populated Syrian town of Kobane (Ayn al-Arab), which is currently under ISIL attack.

Despite the “agree to disagree” situation about al-Assad on the Syrian front, Turkey and the U.S. see the Iraqi front of the fight against ISIL from the same lenses, Turkish sources say. Erdoğan and Biden agree that the rise of ISIL started to accelerate after ISIL took Mosul, so...