Aiming to head off a rift between major Mideast players, President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged Turkey and Russia to set aside tensions over the downing of a Russian warplane and focus on the common priority of defeating the Islamic State group.
Obama, in a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, vouched for the NATO ally’s right to self-defence, and he pledged a solid US commitment “to Turkey’s security and its sovereignty.”
Yet he emphasized the need for Turkey and Russia to “de-escalate” their conflict and not get distracted from the campaign against IS and efforts to resolve Syria’s long-running civil war. “We all have a common enemy. That is ISIL,” Obama said, using one of several acronyms for the extremist group. “I want to make sure that we focus on that threat.”
Tensions between Turkey and Russia have erupted into diplomatic crisis since Turkey shot down a Russian jet it accused of violating its airspace less than two weeks ago.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed Turkey shot the plane down to protect oil he says Turkey is illegally importing from IS, a charge Turkey vehemently denies. Turkey has insisted it won’t apologise for the shoot-down, which also led Russia to slap a package of new sanctions against Russian products. The spat between two countries the US sees as critical to resolving the Syria crisis has threatened to undermine Obama’s efforts to expand the US-led coalition.