1 June 2012Turkish foreign minister has said Turkey would never back Syrians on armed fight/.
Turkey has never backed, nor will ever support the Syrian National Council or the Syrian opposition to carry out an armed struggle, the Turkish foreign minister has said.
"We have never advised neither the Syrian National Council, nor the Syrian administration to conduct an armed fight, and we will never do so," said Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, appearing at a broadcast of the private NTV channel Thursday.
Assessing the situation in Syria, Davutoglu said Syrian people will would be the driving force that eventually topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"Assad will leave as a result of people's will. We have always expressed that Syrian people should give direction to their own destiny," Davutoglu said.
Asked whether a military intervention was planned to solve the Syrian conflict, Davutoglu said, "We should try all possible ways and run out of all options".
The minister noted that nobody, especially Turkey, could consider military intervention as the initial step.
"In our current security assessment, the biggest risk factor is the defacto division of authority in Syria and the lack of security to be caused by internal clashes that will appear as a result of such division," he said.
Commenting on the recent bloody attack in the Syrian town of Houla, Davutoglu said the incident proved there was a regime that used heavy weapons against its own people, as well as militia forces backed by such regime in Syria.
He said a regime needed both domestic and international legitimacy to maintain its presence, however, the Syrian administration had lost both.
"We never hope for an external intervention in our region," he added, emphasizing that the international community should take measures to prevent a civil war in Syria.
Responding to a question on whether Turkey considered a buffer zone at its Syrian border, the minister said Turkey had the right to check the security of its borders and take the necessary measures in case of any risks, however, forming a buffer zone was not on the agenda at the moment.
Regarding the developments in Iraq, Davutoglu said a scenario envisaging the division of Iraq was out of the question for Turkey.
"We are against all political developments that may end up in separation into smaller structures both in Syria and in our region," he said.
Touching on Turkish-French ties as well, Davutoglu said relations between Turkey and France came from a certain tradition and would not be harmed easily.
The minister also shared his hope for the new French administration to take steps that would highlight the historical aspect of relations with Turkey. |
