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U.S. defense chief says Turkey must control its border with Syria

Xinhua, December 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. defense chief Ash Carter said on Tuesday Turkey and other countries should do more in the fight against the Islamic State (IS), including the tightening of the border.

"France has been galvanized by the attacks on its capital and the French have intensified their role," said Carter here in a congressional hearing.

"But we all must do more. Turkey must do more to control its often porous border," said Carter, noting that Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states' participation in campaign against the IS, also known as ISIL, had been distracted by the conflict in Yemen.

"The more contributions we receive from other nations, the greater combat power we can achieve using our own forces," Carter added.

Carter's remarks came just hours after U.S. President Barack Obama said at a press conference at the Paris Climate Summit that he had "repeated conversations" with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the need to close the border between Turkey and Syria.

"We've seen serious progress on that front, but there's still some gaps," said Obama. "In particular, there's about 98 kilometers that are still used as a transit point for foreign fighters, (and) ISIL shipping out fuel for sale that helps finance their terrorist activities." Enditem