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Davutoğlu meets Syrian opposition representatives
The meeting took place in Ankara on Monday evening, after a telephone conversation between Davutoğlu and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Araby, Foreign Ministry officials revealed on Monday.
Al-Araby briefed Davutoğlu on the conclusions of a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo earlier in the day, according to Turkish diplomats.
The Syrian National Council was formed in İstanbul on Oct. 2 after months of talks among different anti-regime groups that seek to topple President Bashar al-Assad. The council says it wants to be recognized internationally as representative of Assad's opponents.
The council is now expected to have talks with the Arab League as well. Turkish Foreign Ministry officials cited the council members as telling Davutoğlu that they had received an invitation from the Arab League for talks. There was no information on when or where the talks are to take place.
Davutoğlu told the opposition members that they should use peaceful means in their anti-regime efforts. The “Syrian opposition, which works for a democratic order based on protection of fundamental rights and freedoms,” should express their “just demands” through “legitimate and peaceful means,” Davutoğlu told council members.
He also said the opposition should protect unity and work for a democratic transformation through peaceful ways.
Officials said the Syrian National Council had been requesting a meeting with Davutoğlu for some time.
Khaled Khoja, a council member, told Today's Zaman last week that they would send a delegation to Ankara for talks with Turkish Foreign Ministry officials. “We plan to meet with members of the Foreign Ministry in order to introduce our policy and a roadmap to the Turkish government,” he told Today's Zaman on Oct. 10.
The council, according to Khaled, is presently made up of “the Muslim Brotherhood, leftist secularists, Syrian Christians, Kurds and Arab nationalists.”
While some of Assad's Western critics, including the United States and France, have welcomed the formation of the council, they have not embraced it diplomatically or offered military help as they did the Libyan rebels who later overthrew Muammar Gaddafi.
Turkey, once a close ally of Assad, has sharply criticized the Syrian president over a brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests. Syrian officials have said “measures would be taken” against any powers which supported the “illegitimate council.”
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