Turkish premier speaks to Danish daily Politiken on crisis in Syria.
“We see a human tragedy unfold before our eyes in Syria. The regime continues to indiscriminately massacre its people, including women and children. No country that claims to adhere to universal values can turn a blind eye to the violence targeting the Syrian people,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the daily Politiken in a March 19 exclusive interview.
Erdogan pays on Wednesday a formal visit in Denmark, and he is expected to discuss a number of issues including the crisis in Syria, Turkey’s European Union accession bid and relations between the two countries.
“It may be considered normal, up to a certain point, for regional and global actors to have different points of view with respect to the developments inSyria. But it is the Syrian people who suffer as a result of the indifference of the international community, especially the UN Security Council, to the massacres and the support extended by some to the Assad regime,” Erdogan told the Danish daily when asked about possible consequences of Iran’s continued military support for President Assad coupled with a strong Russian backing, and the US reluctance over delivering heavy weapons which Syrian opposition forces desperately need to end the stalemate in the civil war that has claimed lives of more than 70,000 people and forced over a million others to seek shelter in neighboring countries.
Erdogan said the two-year conflict inSyria not only led to the massacre of innocent civilians but it also posed a serious threat to regional peace and security.
“The heavy toll for these two years is more than 70,000 deaths, hundreds of thousands of wounded, 1.5 million refugees of which 300,000 are hosted by Turkey and close to 3 million people who are displaced.”
Asked how long he believed Assad could hold onto power, Erdogan said it depended on the developments in Syria.
“However, one thing is clear: the Assad regime does not exist morally, legally and politically. That they resort to terrorism and violence to maintain their de facto existence is a clear indication of this fact,” he said.
EU bid
Asked if European Union membership was still a priority for Turkey, Erdogan said joining the EU was “a strategic goal because we believe that there will be new opportunities for both sides with our membership to the EU. In this framework, we consider our relations with the EU as a win-win situation and aim to develop this relationship further.”
“The fact that France has recently lifted its block on Chapter 22 is a positive step. However, I should also say that this is not sufficient; we expect the accession talks, stalled for the last 2 years, to be revitalized and believe that complementary steps should be taken in order to achieve progress towards our EU membership which shall be to the benefit of both sides.
“If there is political will in the EU, then our country is in a position to rapidly open chapters on economy, monetary policy, education, culture and energy as well as all others for negotiation. In our estimate, it is possible to technically open 10 chapters in 12 months and 15 chapters in 18 months,” Erdogan said.
Anatolia News Agency
