ISIL must be pushed back in northern Syria: Turkish minister

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) must immediately be pushed back from the Turkish border, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu, who has intensified diplomatic efforts on Syria ahead of a May 9 meeting in Paris, adding that efforts were continuing to accomplish this goal.

Speaking to reporters in Ankara, the minister voiced frustration over ISIL's persistent grip on Syria and Iraq despite what he said was a near two-year long effort by the U.S.-led coalition involving 65 countries.

"Daesh should be cleared from the region. This is the most permanent solution," Çavu?o?lu said, using an Arabic term for ISIL.

"It should be removed from the Manbij region and cleared toward the south," he said, referring to a town that has been used as an ISIL logistical hub.

Çavu?o?lu exchanged views with his French counterpart on developments surrounding the Syrian conflict, with a particular focus on concerns stemming from renewed rebel shelling of government-held areas in the deeply contested northern city of Aleppo.

He had a phone conversation with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on May 4 upon a request from the Turkish side, Turkish diplomatic sources told the Hürriyet Daily News.

"Developments taking place in Syria in recent days and especially the attacks on civilians in Aleppo were on the agenda of the conversation," said the diplomatic source, speaking under customary condition of anonymity.

"Additionally, [the] meeting schedule on Syria for the forthcoming period also came to the agenda during the conversation," the same source added.

During the same hours on May 4 in Paris, French government spokesperson Stephane Le Foll announced that France would host Çavu?o?lu on May 9,...