Obama urges Turkey, Russia to Focus on 'Common Enemy'
- Aru Pande
- Dec 1, 2015
- 3 min read
President Barack Obama, right, shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after a bilateral meeting, in Paris, on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015.
Paris - A week after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet sparking tensions, U.S. President Barack Obama is calling for a de-escalation between the two countries and a unified front on the Syrian conflict.
“We all have a common enemy and that is ISIL. And I want to make sure we focus on that threat. And I want to make sure we remain focused on the need to bring about some sort of political resolution in Syria,” Obama said.
The U.S. president spoke Tuesday following talks with his Turkish counterpart Recip Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the United Nations climate conference. The meeting took place a week after Turkey shot down an SU-24 fighter jet, saying the Russian aircraft had entered its airspace.
Russia has insisted the jet did not cross the Turkish border and responded by imposing economic sanctions against Ankara.
A radar picture shows activities of the downed Russian warplane on the Turkish-Syrian border, November 24, 2015 in this handout photo provided by Turkish Interior Ministry Undersecretariat of Public Order and Security.
Obama in Paris reiterated support for the U.S. ally.
“The United States supports Turkey’s rights to defend itself, its airspace and its territory. And we are very much committed to Turkey’s security and its sovereignty,” the U.S. leader said.
For his part, Turkish President Erdogan called for diplomatic language to resolve what he called problems in the region.
“We don’t want to invest in tensions, we want to avoid the tensions. We don’t want to get hurt and we don’t want anyone to get hurt, because if tensions arise in the region, all of the parties involved get damaged at the end. We want peace to prevail at all costs,” Erdogan said.
During Tuesday’s talks in Paris, Obama praised Turkey’s “generous” support of refugees and said the United States is interested in accelerating the military-to-military relationship to ensure “Turkey is safe and secure, but also that Syria can finally begin winding down what has been a terribly costly war.”
On Monday, Obama held a 30-minute closed-door meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that centered on the situation in Syria. Obama called on Putin to focus its efforts on Islamic State militants instead of the Syrian moderate opposition.
Russian missile cruiser Moskva sails near the Syrian coast
During talks on the sidelines of the climate conference, Obama also expressed regret over the loss of a Russian pilot and crew member in the November 24 attack and subsequent rescue effort. He urged the Kremlin leader to reduce tensions with Turkey over the incident.
Putin on Monday refused to meet with Erdogan on the sidelines of the climate conference in Paris and accused Turkey of shooting down the Russian jet to protect oil supplies he said Turkey received from the Islamic State militant group.
Erdogan vehemently rejected the assertion, saying he would resign if Putin’s allegations were proven. The Turkish leader also said Monday he would not apologize for the incident.
In Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Tuesday, it was “not possible to conceal air space violations through baseless accusations targeting Turkey like [allegations of] oil purchases from Daesh.”
Davutoglu also called on Russia to keep diplomatic channels for dialogue with Turkey open.
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