Biden Emphasizes Intensified Efforts to Push Back ISIS from the Turkish Border

Joe Biden, the U.S. Vice President, stated on Saturday, January 23, that Ankara and Washington have agreed to intensify efforts to support Sunni Arabs in Syria to push back the forces of the Islamic State (ISIS) from the Turkish border. According to the Associated Press, Biden, speaking at a press conference alongside Ahmet Davutoglu, expressed that cutting off ISIS's access to the Turkish borders is a priority for both countries to prevent the flow of fighters and weapons into Syria and to stop civilian casualties. During his two-day visit to Turkey, Biden met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to Reuters, the U.S. Vice President also mentioned that if negotiations between opposition groups and the Syrian government fail, Washington and Ankara are prepared to use military options to address the ISIS issue in Syria. The meeting of representatives from the opposition groups to Bashar al-Assad's government and representatives of the Syrian government in Geneva is expected to be delayed by several days. It has been previously reported that there are disagreements over the presence of certain groups in the opposition delegation. Armed opposition groups to Bashar al-Assad's government announced on Saturday that the Syrian government and Russia are responsible for the failure of the peace process negotiations. Meanwhile, Biden stated in Turkey, 'We know that achieving a political solution would be very good, but we are ready to use military options to eliminate ISIS if such a solution is not feasible.' Following these remarks, a U.S. official clarified that the Vice President's reference to military options pertains to actions against ISIS and not for resolving the Syrian crisis. Reports indicate that one reason for the delay in the Geneva peace talks between the opposition and the Syrian government is disagreements over the composition of the opposition delegation. According to these reports, the 'High Negotiations Committee,' formed during the Riyadh meeting, opposes the inclusion of Kurds in the negotiation delegation. Salah Muslim, a leader of the Democratic Union Party, the main Kurdish group in Syria, stated that the Syrian peace talks would be doomed to failure without the participation of Kurds. According to Reuters, the cooperation between Syrian Kurds and the U.S. is a contentious issue between Ankara and Washington. Meanwhile, Biden has distinguished between Syrian Kurds and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), with Davutoglu stating that the military wing of the Democratic Union Party is part of the PKK. Davutoglu also stated that the Democratic Union Party poses a threat to Turkey.