Department of Defense

U.S.'s Senior Republican Senator John McCain, who serves as a chairman for the Senate Armed Services Committee, met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım on Feb. 20.

McCain, who has been an ardent promoter of U.S.-Turkey relations, was expected to discuss the Syrian crisis in Ankara. 

The Pentagon on Jan. 23 denied that it had coordinated air strikes with Russia in Syria, after Russia's Defense Ministry said the United States had provided coordinates for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants. 

Photo: Reuters

The United States will not give up its support for Kurdish groups in Syria and Iraq despite Turkey's opposition, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Mary Beth Long has stated.

The United States has applauded Turkey and Ankara-backed Syrian rebels after they took control of Syria's symbolically important town of Dabiq from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has slammed the United States for the "inconsistency and disjointedness" of its policies on the Middle East, as one part of the Obama administration continues to insist on allying with Syria's Democratic Union Party (PYD), an organization that Ankara regards as an associate of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).  

It was none other than U.S. President Barack Obama who said in 2012 that it was a "red line" for him if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against rebels in the civil war that started in 2011.
At the time, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) had not declared itself as the new and worst player in the Syrian theater.

The scheduled discussion in the Greek parliament concerning the security of citizens and the refugee crisis turned into an acrimonious debate between Greek PM Alexis Tsipras and leader of conservative New Deocracy party Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The Pentagon has forecast a 3 percent drop in acquisition costs for Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jet, but said plans to use the jets six more years would add about $45 billion to the projected operating costs through 2070.

U.S. President Barack Obama directed his national security advisers on Jan. 28 to counter efforts by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to expand into Libya and other countries, the White House said.

ISIL militants have taken advantage of chaos in Libya to establish themselves in the city of Sirte, and they have carried out several attacks on oil installations this month.