Obama: Turkey has a right to defend its territory and airspace

U.S. President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande have downplayed World War 3 fears sparked by Turkey. “And we must do it together”, Obama said, according to USA Today.

Hollande, who spent just a few hours in Washington as he was making his way across the globe to meet with counterparts, said France now had a “relentless determination to fight terrorism everywhere and anywhere” and would “scale up our strikes” against the Islamic State in Syria and in Iraq.

He added that the Daesh terror network “cannot be tolerated”.

The appeal came after talks between the United States and French presidents at the White House in the wake of the Paris attacks.

Obama also convened his National Security Council on Tuesday to discuss the response to recent terrorist attacks by the Islamic State group.

“Militarily, it is about destroying Daesh (IS) no matter where they are”.

A French Rafale fighter aircraft takes off with bombs from the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, in the Mediterranean sea, as part of operation Chammal in Syria and Iraq against the Islamic State group, November 23, 2015. “This is what we must do, all of us – we, Turkey and Russia“, Mr Hollande said.

“It’s going to be hard and we should not be under any illusions”, Obama said. “There is a new mindset now”, Hollande said.

“Given Russia’s military capabilities and the influence they have on the Assad regime, them co-operating would be enormously helpful in bringing about resolution of the civil war in Syria”, Obama said. The United States and its regional allies – especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey – have been supporting the militants operating inside Syria since the beginning of the crisis.

Said Mr Philippe Le Corre, a visiting fellow at the Centre on the United States and Europe at Brookings Institution: “On the diplomatic and military front, we expected that the USA would do a little more“.

“Current information suggests that ISIL (another acronym for ISIS), Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and other terrorist groups continue to plan terrorist attacks in multiple regions”, said a State Department travel advisory. “We can only regret it”, he said.

Putin dismissed Turkish claims that the Russian plane had violated Turkish airspace. The White House is deeply skeptical of Putin’s motivations, given his longstanding support for Assad, and has accused Putin of bombing rebels fighting the Syrian leader instead of targeting the Islamic State.

He noted that French airstrikes carried out over Syria last week were based on targets that were identified using USA intelligence and were backed up by a US search-and-rescue team in case the strikes went awry.

Earnest said if “Russia is prepared to commit the kinds of resources that the United States has in a way that’s integrated with the worldwide community to defeating ISIL, we’d welcome that contribution”, but he expressed deep skepticism over whether that would actually happen.

The planning comes amid a diplomatic effort to ease Assad from office. Since the attacks, Americans have recalled their own visits to Paris, visiting the Eiffel Tower or walking along the Seine.

No new major shifts in strategy were announced, but Obama said the USA would “step up” its coordination with France by providing it with additional intelligence and air support.