Assad

The United Nations' demand from Turkey to open its border to tens of thousands of Syrian refugees massed on its border has prompted a stern response from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, who accused the world body of being ineffective over the refugee crisis and not shouldering the burden like Turkey.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's meeting with Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu on Feb. 8 produced a joint understanding in further coordinating and dealing with growing refugee problem under a 10-article statement.

The amount of oil smuggled into Turkey from areas of Syria controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is economically insignificant, the United States said on Dec. 4, after Moscow accused Ankara of profiting from the trade.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke in Greek after his meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias in Athens on Friday, by stating that the US supports Greece.

Turkey has no reason to target Russia - a country with whom it has strong relations - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said Nov. 26, two days after Turkish jets shot down a Russian military plane near the Syrian border.

"The plane was shot down within the rules of engagement announced previously," Erdo?an said at a meeting in Ankara. 

United States President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande opened talks on Tuesday on the international campaign against ISIS. The French president’s trip to Washington is an effort to get the United States and other nations more interested in bolstering efforts to destroy the militant group that has claimed responsibility for the multiple attacks on the French capitals.

As the Russian bombardment to defend Bashar-al Assad's forces heats up in the Turkmen-dominated Bay?rbucak region in northwest Syria, waves of locals have flooded to safe zones close to the Turkish border. 

The Syrian crisis will drag the whole world into a vortex if the problem is not rightly handled, the Turkish president has said, indirectly criticizing Russia and Iran for supporting the Bashar al-Assad regime though it commits state terror on its own people. 

When watching the weather forecast, we all focus just on the place we live and pass over the rest of the world. Yet this is not the case for Russians these days. Last week, a Russian TV presenter at a state-owned news channel specifically talked about weather conditions in far distant Syria. Her conclusion was the highlight: ?So conditions are excellent for bombing Syria.?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said only with the help of Russia could Syria's civil war be brought to an end.

"For years we have known there can be a solution only with the help of Russia," Der Spiegel quotes her as saying on in a Thursday speech.