Anti-ISIL coalition devoid of robust strategy to destroy group: Turkish FM

ANTALYA

The coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has not succeeded in creating a solid and functioning strategy to destroy the terror organization, Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said in a meeting May 11.

“There are 65 countries in the anti-ISIL coalition, a majority of which are NATO members. We have some fragmented strategies, most of which have unfortunately not worked. We do not have a robust and functioning strategy to destroy and to defeat the terror organization. I hope this will change,” he said in a speech in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya.

Çavuşoğlu said it was not possible to defeat terror organizations, including ISIL and al-Nusra, without resolving the problems in Syria.

“People from more than 120 countries come to join terror organizations in Syria. Even if we defeat these organizations, new ones will erupt. There was no ISIL or Boko Haram some four years ago, but there was al-Qaeda,” he said.

“Almost all terror organizations are connected to each other, representing the parts of a huge network...If we cannot resolve the terror issue, it will find us one way or another in the end. The terror problem in our region first hit Turkey and then Europe,” he said.

The minister also said Turkey was not uncomfortable with hosting over 3 million Iraqis and Syrians, but noted that it was necessary to create joint solutions.

“We have spent some $10 billion on them so far. We do not see them as a burden. The international community has given just $472 million until now. This is also not a problem for us. When people, however, lose their hopes about their future, they start to seek new destinations. If they had been happy with their hometowns, they would not have moved somewhere else in masses,” he said, adding that Turkey and the European Union had worked together to resolve the refugee crisis as the huge influx had mainly affected the two entities.