Despite Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s recent remarks claiming that the US administration is signaling a change of policy over Syria and saying that both Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the radical Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) must go, US President Barack Obama has said his administration hasn’t changed its Syria policy and is not actively working on plans to remove Assad from power.
During a press conference in Brisbane, where the G-20 Leaders’ Summit is being held, Obama on Sunday was asked whether the US is recalibrating its Syria policy and making the removal of Assad part of its strategy, even though the removal of Assad initially had not been a priority.
“Certainly, no changes have taken place with respect to our attitude towards Bashar al-Assad,” said Obama.
Stressing once again that Assad has lost legitimacy in the eyes of his own people, Obama explained further why removing Assad from power is not a priority at this point:
“For us to then make common cause with him against ISIL would only turn more Sunnis in Syria in the direction of supporting ISIL, and would weaken our coalition that sends a message around the region this is not a fight against Sunni Islam, this is a fight against extremists of any stripe who are willing to behead innocent people or kill children, or mow down political prisoners with the kind of wanton cruelty that I think we’ve very rarely seen in the modern age.”
Obama said the US has communicated to the Syrian regime that when the US operation is going after ISIL in Syrian air space, “they would be well advised not to take the US on.”
“Now, we are looking for a political solution eventually within Syria that is inclusive of all the groups who live there — the Alawite, the Sunni, Christians. And at some point, the people of Syria and the various players involved, as well as the regional players — Turkey, Iran, Assad’s patrons like Russia — are going to have to engage in a political conversation,” added Obama.
Obama stressed that the US military, diplomatic and national security team, along with the secretary of state and secretary of defense and the intelligence team are gathering weekly to assess the progress the US is making both in Iraq and Syria with respect to ISIL, but they have not had a comprehensive review of Syria.
“We’ve had a comprehensive review of what we are doing each and every week — what’s working, what’s not. Some of it is very detailed at the tactical level. Some of it is conceptual. We continue to learn about ISIL — where its weaknesses are; how we can more effectively put pressure on them. And so nothing extraordinary, nothing formal of the sort that you describe [policy change in Syria] has taken place,” said Obama.
His remarks came after Prime Minister Davutoğlu told reporters on Friday that he received strong signals from the US over changing its Syria policy, after his brief meeting with Obama on the sidelines of the G-20.
Davutoğlu said it takes time for the US strategy to change and that there may be different views on the Syria policy within the US, but the most important is the one the US president tends to follow.
Obama also stressed that it’s the nature of diplomacy, certainly in the case of Syria, “where you end up having diplomatic conversations potentially with people that you don’t like and regimes that you don’t like.
“But we’re not even close to being at that stage yet,” he added.
When asked whether he is actively discussing ways to remove Assad as part of a political transition, Obama simply answered, “No.”
High-profile visits from the US
Amid reports questioning whether Turkey is still a relevant partner for the US due to its reluctance to contribute to the US-led coalition against ISIL, US Vice President Joe Biden is expected to visit Turkey this week.
Biden is scheduled to visit Morocco, Ukraine and Turkey, according to the White House, but the exact dates of these visits have not yet been disclosed.
Before Biden’s visit, Chairman of the US Joint Chief of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey on Sunday paid a surprise visit to İncirlik Air Base in Turkey’s Adana province, which is in close proximity to ISIL targets inside Iraq and Syria. The US has been pushing Turkey to expand their access to İncirlik for launching military attacks against ISIL.
Before İncirlik, Dempsey went to Baghdad to talk with the new Iraqi administration officials, and he also visited Arbil to meet Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani.
A columnist for daily Hürriyet Tolga Tanış, based in Washington, wrote on Monday that Dempsey’s visit to the region aims to look for alternatives, such as a base in Arbil for the US if Turkey is not willing to provide expanded access to İncirlik.
Iraqi Foreign Minister İbrahim Jaafari, who visited Ankara recently, had said that Iraq does not want foreign troops or a military base in the country, including in Arbil.
Another important guest from Washington is the American-Turkish Council (ATC) Chairman Gen. James Jones. The ATC is a leading Washington-based business association in the US that works to enhance American-Turkish ties.
Jones, along with the members of the board of directors of the ATC, will be in Ankara until Wednesday of this week.
Source: Todayszaman