Chuck Hagel

Answering a question from a journalist about reports claiming U.S. President Barack Obama has changed his strategy on Syria to prioritize the removal of Bashar al-Assad, to aid in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Nov.

Senior U.S. officials have denied that the Obama administration is reviewing its Syria policy to include the ousting of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the program, reiterating that Iraq remains the current focus.

A bid by Islamic State fighters to seize the flashpoint Syrian border town of Kobane has stalled, American officials said, with the help of air strikes reported to have killed over 500 jihadists.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the US is making 'considerable progress' in its negotiations with Turkey over the plan to train and equip Syrian rebels in their fight against ISIL

The map titled “ISIL Ambition, projected 2016” was exposed during a testimony by U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Chairman of Joint Chief of Staff General Martin Dempsey before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Sept. 16, 2014.

United States President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron want an international coalition that will fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levent (ISIL). The coalition they propose includes Turkey. The U.S.

Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has declared that it would not object to participating in a coalition that aims at battling jihadist militants in neighboring countries.

Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has declared that it would not object to participating in a coalition that aims at battling jihadist militants in neighboring countries.

Turkey’s newly-assigned Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has held a telephone conversation with his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State John Kerry, amid Washington-led efforts to forge an international coalition against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.

Obama administration officials will hold briefings this week and next for members of the U.S. Congress as the president makes his case for an offensive against Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants, congressional aides said on Sept. 9.