Obama heads to G-20 with new urgency following Paris attacks
WASHINGTON (AP) — The global anxiety sparked by a series of deadly attacks in Paris by the Islamic State (IS) group has given new urgency to US President Barack Obama’s upcoming talks with world leaders at the G-20 summit in Turkey.
The crisis in Syria, where the IS 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 will dramatically change the dynamic of the talks in Antalya, Turkey, a seaside resort city just a few hundred miles from the Syrian border.
In remarks from the White House shortly after the attacks, Obama said, “We’re going to do whatever it takes to work with the French people and with nations around the world to bring these terrorists to justice, and to go after any terrorist networks that go after our people.”
French President Francois Hollande said IS militants were behind the attacks and the extremist group claimed responsibility Saturday.
The White House said Saturday that no information they have contradicts the French assessment that IS carried out the Paris attacks. Obama met with his national security team at the White House on Saturday before departing for Turkey.
Security is expected be extremely tight in Turkey as leaders gather for two days of talks in Antalya, where several suspected IS militants were recently detained.
Ahead of Obama’s talks in Turkey, US 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 four-year civil war, though key details — including the status of Syrian President Bashar Assad — remain unresolved.