Turkish FM calls for Assad to step down
World Bulletin / News Desk
Failure of Assad to negotiate on a transitional government could result in him facing war crimes charges at the ICC (International Criminal Court) Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an interview in Geneva on Thursday.
Davutoglu compared the 55 thousand photographs of torture allegedly committed by the Syrian regime released this week, to the 8,000 Bosnians killed in Srebrenica during the Bosnian war in the mid nineties. He urged the international community not to turn a blind eye to what is happening in Syria and allowing a genocide like Srebrenica to be repeated.
Criticizing the regime for using the conference as a platform to accuse the opposition of treason and terrorism, Davutoglu added, “the children, the women, everywhere in the region who try to escape from this regime cannot be called a terrorists.”
The success of “Geneva II” depends on two criteria, improving the humanitarian situation on the ground and forming a transitional governing body, he explained.
He asserted, “a new government transitioning governing body will be formed by those who do not have blood in their hands.”
More than 100,000 people have been killed in the three-year-old conflict in Syria, and more than two million Syrians have become refugees in the neighboring countries including Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, according to the UN.
Call for ‘binding decision’ on Syria
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called on the UN Security Council to pass a ‘binding decision’ on the Syrian crisis, describing it as the worst human tragedy since World War II.
Davutoglu said during a session of the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday that Syrian civilians are lucky to find shelter in neighboring countries.
“7 million displaced Syrians face hunger and brutal attacks,” he said. “The recently published photos allegedly showing torture by the Syrian regime reflects their ‘medieval mentality’,” he added.
He strongly criticized the international community for its inaction, but praised the Syrian opposition as it stand outs at the conference.
Davutoglu reiterated his support for a political peace process that leads to a transitional government and the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Syrian people.
Davutoglu meets Barzani, Judeh, and Zarif
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday met with the President of Iraqi Kurdistan Masoud Barzani during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Barzani and Davutoglu talked over recent developments and attacks in Iraq.
Davutoglu also met with Jordanian Foreign Minister and President of the United Nations Security Council Nasser Judeh, to review developments of the ongoing Geneva II peace conference.
The foreign minister met with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif to review the progress of Geneva II and to discuss Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s upcoming visit to Iran.