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U.S. expands aid funding for refugee crisis in Syria Turkey will play important role in combating Islamic State, U.S. officials say
(about 9 hours later)
ANKARA, Turkey — The United States pledged nearly $500 million in additional humanitarian aid for refugees and other victims of the Syrian civil war Friday, marking a significant boost in American relief funding in the region. ANKARA, TURKEY— Turkey will be an important part of the international military and diplomatic coalition fighting Islamic State militants, whether or not the Muslim nation at Syria’s border makes public declarations of support or allows American warplanes to use its bases, U.S. officials said Friday.
The expanded commitment comes as a U.S.-led coalition prepares to sharply broaden the fight against Islamic State militants, who control areas of northern Iraq and Syria. The offensive could include airstrikes on Islamic State strongholds in Syria. Secretary of State John F. Kerry courted Turkish leaders one day after the country abstained from a declaration of support for the campaign signed by Arab diplomats in Saudi Arabia. An unidentified Turkish official was widely quoted earlier this week saying Turkey would not allow its military bases to be used for airstrikes into Syria or Iraq.
The money will go through the United Nations, which earlier this year announced it seeks to raise $6 billion for Syrian relief. The U.N. refu­gee agency estimates nearly 3 million people have fled Syria during more than three years of fighting between rebel factions and the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Millions more are displaced inside Syria. Kerry said it is “premature” to discuss Turkey’s role, or the precise commitments of any nation, as an international coalition forms to confront the militants.
A major portion of the new U.S. money — $241 million — will be spent inside Syria, U.S. officials said. “Within the coalition there are many ways Turkey can help,” Kerry told reporters after a day of discussions in the Turkish capital. “We will continue our conversations with our military and other experts to define the specific role that Turkey will play.”
Secretary of State John F. Kerry plans to formally announce the pledge later Friday in Turkey, one of the border nations that has taken in refugees. Turkey will receive about $47 million of the American pledge. Turkey does not publicly acknowledge U.S. military unarmed surveillance drones currently flown over Iraq from Incirlik Air Base, where a U.S. Air Force wing is based. Turkey had refused a U.S. request to use its territory for operations during the Iraq war.
Kerry announced that retired Marine Gen. John R. Allen will become President Obama’s special envoy for the global coalition launched this week with Obama’s pledge to defeat the Islamic State. Allen is a longtime Mideast expert and troubleshooter whose last military assignment was as head of international forces in Afghanistan. Reporting to Kerry, he will match campaign requirements with potential contributors, the State Department said.
The military portion of the campaign against the Islamic State would be hobbled without any help from Turkey. The NATO member borders both Syria and Iraq, and it is a transit route for foreign fighters seeking to join the fight and for oil commandeered by the militants to come out to market. Turkey’s strategic importance is clear from the fact that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel visited three days before Kerry, carrying the same message.
However, nearly 50 Turkish diplomats and staff have been held hostage since the militants overran a Turkish consulate in Mosul, Iraq, in June, complicating Turkey’s response to the crisis and potentially delaying any statement of support for U.S. and other efforts. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned against jeopardizing any effort to win the release of the Turkish diplomats.
Still, the militant network is a growing threat to Turkey, and leaders of the Muslim-majority nation support the international effort, U.S. officials said ahead of Kerry’s visit.
U.S. airstrikes already underway in Iraq are expected to expand to Syria, a haven for the militants, but thus far no other nation has publicly pledged to send their own planes. Britain, whose participation in the Iraq war was hugely unpopular at home, gave conflicting statements this week about its willingness to take part in airstrikes in Syria.
U.S. officials have said they need more help in the region with refueling flights, airlifting equipment and supplies, and providing assistance to moderate Syrian rebel groups.
U.S. officials have complained that Turkey does too little to police the porous border with Syria, allowing untold thousands of fighters from Europe and North Africa to cross in, along with supplies.
“There’s been improvement, but additional improvement needs to be made,” one senior State Department official said Friday.
That official and others traveling with Kerry requested anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy. They highlighted newly released Turkish statistics claiming that some 6,000 people have been denied entry into Turkey because of suspicions that they were traveling to join the fight. Turkey says another 1,000 were recently deported. Turkey also detained a French man suspected of being a top recruiter for foreign fighters and turned him over to French authorities this week.
“Obviously there are some sensitivities that Turkey has, and we are cognizant of that and respect that,” one State Department official said. “But they are an important counterterrorism partner, and that’s why we have certainly had an uptick in our meetings and engagements with them.”
Turkey and the United States had given one another the diplomatic cold shoulder for more than a year over differences including U.S. concerns over Erdogan’s increasingly anti-democratic shift while serving as prime minister and his hostile language about Israel. The United States has sought to say little about Erdogan’s recent remark that Israel behaved “like Hitler” in the Gaza Strip during the seven-week war this summer but snubbed the Turkish president by sending no Washington officials for his inauguration last month.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu shook Kerry’s hand for news cameras and warmly welcomed him to Ankara, but he made no promises of Turkish support and took no questions. Reporters were kept away from Kerry’s other meetings, including with Erdogan.
Also Friday, the United States pledged nearly $500 million in additional humanitarian aid for refugees and other victims of the Syrian civil war, marking a significant boost in American relief funding in the region.
The money will go through the United Nations, which earlier this year announced it seeks to raise $6 billion for Syrian relief. The U.N. refugee agency estimates nearly 3 million people have fled Syria during more than three years of fighting. Millions more are displaced inside Syria.
The commitment brings total U.S. humanitarian spending to roughly $3 billion since the start of the conflict in March 2011.The commitment brings total U.S. humanitarian spending to roughly $3 billion since the start of the conflict in March 2011.