Obama said the incident was also the latest example of the “ongoing problem with the Russian operation” in Syria.
Advertisement
The sole surviving pilot said he had received no warning and the aircraft did not violate Turkish air space, prompting the Turkish army to release audio recordings it said showed the Russian jet was repeatedly warned to change course.
President Barack Obama appealed anew on Thanksgiving Day for acceptance of Syrian refugees, saying “so much of our greatness comes from our generosity”. “It’s no mere coincidence that the unpopular Hollande’s support has increased during his forceful response to the attacks, while Obama’s poll numbers are down”.
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins meanwhile said the suspected ringleader of the deadly assaults in the French capital and an accomplice planned to carry out a suicide attack on the city’s La Defense business district the following week.
“It’s going to be hard and we should not be under any illusions”, Obama said. “Russian Federation right now is a coalition of two – Iran and Russian Federation supporting Assad”.
“Russia’s the outlier”, he added, noting that strikes against moderate opposition fighters “bolster the Assad regime”.
“And if Russian Federation is directing its energies towards DAESH and ISIL some of those conflicts and potentials for mistakes or escalation are less likely to occur”.
Hollande said he wouldn’t set a deadline for Assad leaving office because “it must be as soon as possible”. Both Obama and Hollande, however, insisted that a political transition in Syria must lead to Assad’s departure.
“We are here today to declare that the United States and France stand united in total solidarity to deliver justice to these terrorists and those who sent them and to defend our nations”, Obama said.
“If and when they do, it will make it easier for us to go after Islamic State”. It can not be tolerated. It must be destroyed. “Even as we are vigilant we can not and will not succumb to fear…”
Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected Turkey’s version of Tuesday’s events, likening them to “a stab in the back”.
Earlier this week, he met President Obama in Washington, as well as David Cameron and Angela Merkel in Paris.
The comments reflected the resentment in the White House at pressure to escalate the battle with the Islamic State, given that the United States has conducted two-thirds of the airstrikes against the group in Iraq and 95 percent of the strikes in Syria. News, the press conference has not revealed any specific new action or strategy on how to handle the ISIS. The president’s declaration came at a time when the Kurds were declaring victory over ISIS in Shingal, the symbolic town where the first U.S. bombs were dropped on ISIS.
Advertisement
The White House signaled Monday that it already believes US contributions to the anti-ISIS effort are sufficient.
