ANTALYA, Turkey (AP) — President Barack Obama’s talks with world leaders in Turkey this week have taken on new urgency following a series of horrific attacks in Paris carried out by the Islamic State group, sparking global anxiety about the militant group’s reach.
The crisis in Syria, where the Islamic State group has taken root, was already high on the agenda at the meeting of 20 leading industrialized and emerging-market nations. But the violence in Paris that killed at least 129 people and injured 352 will dramatically change the dynamic of the talks in Antalya, Turkey, a seaside resort city just a few hundred miles from the Syrian border.
Obama arrived in Turkey Sunday morning after an overnight flight from Washington, and was greeted on the tarmac by Turkish officials and the U.S. ambassador. He was scheduled to discuss the terror attacks in a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before beginning broader discussions with Group of 20 leaders.
French President Francois Hollande said Islamic State militants were behind the attacks and the extremist group claimed responsibility Saturday. The White House said it had no information to contradict the initial French assessment.
Obama’s itinerary, which also includes stops in the Philippines and Malaysia, was not expected to be impacted by the terror attacks. There were also no immediate changes in his plans to travel to Paris in two weeks for a high-stakes climate conference, a meeting of world leaders that will require an enormous security presence.
Security is expected be extremely tight in Turkey as leaders gather for two days of talks in Antalya, where several suspected Islamic State militants were recently detained.
Ahead of Obama’s talks in Turkey, Secretary of State John Kerry met in Vienna with his counterparts from Russia, Turkey and other nations with a stake in Syria. The diplomats agreed on a timeline for a political transition in Syria that is aimed at ending the country’s 4 ½ year civil war, though key details — including the status of Syrian President Bashar Assad — remain unresolved.
More 250,000 people have been killed in the clashes between rebels and forces loyal to Assad. Eleven million people have been uprooted from their homes, sparking a massive migration crisis in Europe that is also expected to be on the agenda at the G-20 meeting.
The president’s first meeting in Turkey is with Erdogan, the Turkish leader whose ties with the White House have become increasingly strained. Their meeting wasn’t announced until shortly before Obama’s departure, a underscoring the very tense nature of the U.S.-Turkey relationship, according to Heather Conley, a Europe expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.
While Erdogan shares Obama’s desire to get Assad out of power in Syria, the two leaders have disagreed over tactics.
The U.S. and Turkey do not align on the dimension of the Syrian campaign, Conley said.
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