Earlier intervention could have prevented the rise of ISIL, Turkish PM tells CNN

The power vacuum resulting from the atrocities of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime and a lack of international response allowed the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to flourish in the region, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu told CNN International's Christiane Amanpour on July 27. 

"If there is one person who is responsible for all these terrorist crimes and humanitarian tragedies in Syria, it is [al-]Assad's approach, using chemical weapons, barrel bombs against civilians. Terrorist organizations like ISIS [ISIL] were able to be active in Syria because of that power vacuum," Davuto?lu said, using another acronym for the jihadist group. 

Davuto?lu expressed his agreement with Amanpour when asked whether opening the strategic air base in ?ncirlik or creating a safe area earlier would have prevented the rise of ISIL. 

"If that was done before, the [al-]Assad regime wouldn't be killing so many people or pushing them to Turkey, Jordan, Iraq or Lebanon. There wouldn't be any place or power vacuum for ISIS to be active. So ISIS is a product of the crisis, not the cause of a problem," he said. 

The United States and Turkey recently agreed to work together to clear northern Syria of ISIL militants by establishing a 98 kilometer-long and 40 kilometer-wide ISIL-free zone. The area would both shelter refugees fleeing ISIL or the al-Assad regime and safeguard Turkish citizens from attacks by terrorist groups. 

Future of Syria

Davuto?lu argued the anti-ISIL coalition was also responsible for creating a "new situation" in Syria whereby terrorist organizations would find it impossible to thrive once ISIL was eliminated. 

"We need to support moderate opposition forces there. Moderate opposition...