U.S and Turkey to find political solution against IS

US Vice President Joe Biden says the US and Turkey are prepared for military solutions in Syria if a political settlement can not be found. He added that Washington recognizes the Kurdistan Workers’ Party is as much of a threat to Ankara as Islamic State.

Turkey charges that Syrian Kurdish fighters, known as the People’s Protection Units or YPG, share the PKK’s goal of establishing a separate political entity in Kurdish regions of Turkey, Syria and Iraq.

Davutoglu hit back by expressing surprise at Biden’s schedule of meetings on Friday where he had met anti-government journalists and the son and wife of the jailed editor of the Cumhuriyet daily Can Dundar.

Biden agreed with Turkey that as far as he is concerned there is no difference between ISIL, the PKK and al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda group fighting against the Syrian government, adding that they are all terrorist groups.

“During the meeting, agreement has been reached on strengthening coordination on Bashiqa camp in northern Iraq and in the fight against Daesh in Iraq and on moving forward with new initiatives”, the statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said.

The PYD reportedly has ties to the PKK, and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Saturday the group was collaborating with the Syrian regime that allowed ISIS to thrive, Today’s Zaman reported.

Pre-presidency, during Erdogan’s early years as Prime Minister of Turkey, the USA highlighted the country as an example of a functioning Islamic State.

Turkey and the United States continued on Saturday to disagree about the status of Syrian Kurdish forces who have become a key part of the USA strategy to defeat the Islamic State in Syria.

Biden officials later said there was no change in US policy not to interfere militarily in the civil war, and that Biden was referring to ongoing USA commitment to the military fight against the Islamic State, regardless of what happens in the Syrian negotiations.

Biden is also scheduled to meet with representatives of Turkey’s civic society.

At the same time, its security forces are fighting Kurdish PKK members on the home front. Opponents of the government have accused the West in the past of pulling its punches over the country’s human rights record as a result. But more recently, reforms have faltered and President Erdogan himself has demonstrated a more authoritarian style.

The academics” declaration sparked an investigation, amid accusations of making “terrorist propaganda’ and insulting the state.