Anti-ISIL Coalition Members Hold First Meeting in Brussels
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - The International coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) held its first high-level meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels with the participation of representatives from 60 countries and discussed the best military strategy against the group.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is hosting the gathering at which coalition members discuss preventing the flow of foreign fighters, delegitimizing ISIL, blocking the group’s financial resources and inhibiting them from accessing weapons, according to diplomatic sources.
Kerry, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and foreign ministers from European, Arab and other countries, including Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu are participating at the talks, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
Addressing the coalition members, Çavuşoğlu urged for a comprehensive strategy in Syria and stressed merely air strikes alone will not be enough to solve the crisis, according to diplomatic sources. ISIL should be defeated and the coalition members should act resolutely, the minister said.
He also stressed the deteriorating situation in Aleppo, as ISIL has gained leverage over the Free Syrian Army (FSA).
Kerry said the militants’ swift rise “has left the terrorists very exposed” and that casualties among them “are going up by the day.”
He said ISIL militants “have sought to hijack a whole faith,” but that Muslim leaders are speaking out against them.
