Foreign involvement in the Syrian Civil War

Russian President Vladimir Putin has changed his stance on the ongoing crisis in Syria and is ?much more positive? about a future without President Bashar al-Assad, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an.

Turkey and the U.S. have reached an agreement on anti-Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) struggle and are just about to start conducting joint operations against ISIL targets in northern Syria.

Turkey on Sunday formally requested an emergency NATO meeting on Tuesday following an escalation of violence on its borders with Syria. Turkey invoked article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), which allows members to request assistance from allied nations in the event they feel  their ‘territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened’.

U.S. President Barack Obama has said that his country has been working with Turkey and Jordan to stop the flow of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants into Syria.

The United States on July 9 asked the UN Security Council to set up an investigative panel to identify those behind deadly chlorine gas attacks in Syria.

When the new cabinet emerges from the mayhem of the newly sworn-in parliament, its biggest problem will be Syria. It is not just the refugee issue that will need to be addressed. Turkey?s longest border has turned into a fishing net and Turkish Armed Forces are trying desperately to secure it.

Syrian rebels receiving US military training to battle the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants are being paid $250 to $400 per month, depending on their skills, performance and leadership position, the Pentagon said on June 22. 

A program to train and equip Syrian opposition fighters is not enough to save Syria and Iraq on its own, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu said June 4.

"We should save Syria and Iraq. It would be an over-optimistic approach if we depend merely on the train and equip program," the minister told news broadcaster A Haber.

A key Syrian rebel group in the international fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has reportedly threatened to quit the U.S.-led train and equip program for not being allowed to target the regime.

Turkish PM Davuto?lu said he could not comment fully because of 'state secrecy,' but said Turkey provided the Syrian people and the Free Syrian Army with assistance, without specifying whether the aid was of a military nature.