WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Turkey on Friday it was “imperative” to combat the resurgence of the Islamic State (IS) militant group in Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
His remarks came after his meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara, as part of the second leg of his crisis tour of Syria following the fall of Assad’s government.
“Our country has worked very hard and given a lot for many years to ensure the elimination of the territorial caliphate of the Islamic State (IS), to ensure that this threat never returns,” Blinken said during a joint press conference.
“And it is imperative that we continue these efforts.”
In response, Fidan told him that Turkey was determined to ensure stability in Syria “as soon as possible” and prevent fighters from gaining a foothold there.
“Our priorities include ensuring stability in Syria as quickly as possible, preventing terrorism from gaining ground and preventing IS and the PKK from dominating there,” he said, referring to to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which has been waging a decades-long insurgency against Turkey.
Blinken also discussed the issue with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after his arrival Thursday evening, with the two men meeting for more than an hour at Ankara airport, a U.S. official said.
Erdogan assured him that Turkey would never relax its fight against IS fighters in Syria, despite its operations against Kurdish fighters seen as essential to containing the extremists.
“Turkey will never allow any weakness to arise in the fight against ISIS,” Erdogan told him.
Separately, a federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted a former Syrian government official who ran Damascus Central Prison from 2005 to 2008 for torture, the US Department of Justice said.
Samir Ousman Alsheikh, 72, headed Adra Prison, as it is colloquially known, during this period allegedly ordered his subordinates to inflict severe physical and mental pain and suffering on political and other prisoners, said the department.
He was sometimes personally involved in such incidents, the ministry added in its statement.
Reuters was unable to immediately contact Alsheikh seeking comment.
The torture was intended to deter opposition to the Assad regime, the department said, adding that Alsheikh later allegedly lied about his crimes to obtain a U.S. “green card,” or residency permit.
Alsheikh, who reportedly held positions in the Syrian police and state security apparatus, was associated with the ruling Syrian Baath Party and was appointed governor of Deir ez-Zour province by Assad in 2011.
A new indictment issued today alleged that Alsheikh immigrated to the United States in 2020 and applied for citizenship in 2023.
The indictment added three counts of torture and one count of conspiracy to commit torture to the charges of visa fraud and attempted naturalization fraud that were contained in an initial indictment against Alsheikh in august.
In another US indictment released Monday, two former senior Syrian intelligence officials under Assad were charged with war crimes.
These included a plot to inflict cruel and inhumane treatment on civilian detainees, including U.S. citizens, during the Syrian civil war that began in 2011.
