Vice President Joe Biden says the US is prepared for a military solution if no political settlement can be found to the ISIL problem. He was talking
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Vice President Joe Biden says the US is prepared for a military solution if no political settlement can be found to the ISIL problem.
He was talking at a press conference in Istanbul where he met the Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
The two talked about Syria, Islamic state militants and Kurdish separatists, a priority issue for Turkey, a country that shares a border with Syria and faces security threats both internal and external .
“We do know that it’s better if we reach a political solution but we are prepared,” said Biden. “We are prepared, if that’s not possible, to have a military solution to this operation in taking out Daesh. ISIL is not the only existential threat to the people of Turkey. The PKK is equally a threat and we are aware of that.”
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.
The two countries also talked about US cooperation with the Kurdish PYD. That group is fighting against ISIL in Syria but Ankara is wary of its links with PKK separatists waging a militant campaign for independence from Turkey.