Turkish premier says Russian campaign boosts IS in Syria

Mr. Kerry is touting the fact that the United Nations resolution for the first time establishes a timetable for a political transition in Syria, under which a new constitution would be written and elections held within 18 months. White House press secretary Josh Earnest later clarified that Washington’s policy remains unchanged: Assad must go.

The document was adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council.

There is still no agreement on a definitive list of terrorist groups now present in Syria.

Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with the army loyal to President Bashar Assad fighting several opposition factions and militant groups, including Daesh. Pessimistically, as members of the opposition point out, Assad may find a way to hold onto power and thus don’t see it possible to sign onto a political process with the Syrian president still being part of it.

Despite these areas of closer agreement, the most critical point of contention-President Assad’s future-remained unresolved.

The visit by Demirtas, leader of Turkey’s People’s Democratic Party (HDP), is likely to further damage ties between Moscow and Ankara since his party is a staunch political foe of the AK Party Erdogan founded.

The U.S.-Russian initiative foresees talks between the rebels and the regime and a rapid cease-fire. “In an attempt to resolve a conflict that has lasted many years, a bloody conflict, there is always room for compromise, but concessions should be made on both sides”, said Putin.

“We know that there are Iraqi and Syrian Kurds among those who on the ground resist the threat from Islamic State and other extremist groups with weapons in their hands”, he said.

“We criticized the government’s actions when the Russian plane was taken down”, Selahattin Demirtas said at the joint meeting adding there can be problems between states, but there should always be open doors for political and diplomatic settlements. He said the Russian military operation in Syria was a contribution to that fight. By then, it is expected, the list of opposition representatives to attend the intra-Syrian talks would have been compiled.