President Gül says Syria on path of no return

Gül reiterated his concerns regarding the situation in Syria, which he said continues to deteriorate. The Turkish president urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to reverse his wrong policies, and not to insist on conducting atrocities against its own people. During a joint news conference with his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak in Ankara, Gül said the best thing Assad could do for his country and his people is to stop insisting on his policies and embrace change.

Gül also expressed his regret over a Russian-Chinese veto of a UN Security Council Resolution calling upon Assad to step down. “Everyone should remember that the era of the Cold War is over. Human rights violations and using the military against civilians have no place in this world,” Gül asserted, criticizing Russia and China for backing their old political and ideological partner Syria, ties with which are based on the decade-long alliance between Soviet Russia, China and the Assad family-led Baath Party in Syria. Russia and China have angered the United States, Europe and much of the Arab world because of their veto, blocking a UN attempt to end a nearly 11-month-long crackdown on protestors. The veto raises fears that the violence will escalate. On Saturday, the Syrian army killed up to 200 people in Homs -- the highest death toll reported on a single day since the beginning of the uprising in April 2011 -- according to several rights groups. Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also condemned the killings in Homs, offering his compassion and sympathy to the relatives and families of victims.

He said he would elaborate on the subject during his speech to be delivered at the ruling Justice and Development Part (AK Party) Parliamentary Group meeting on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said that Turkey should develop new initiatives to draw the international community’s attention to Syria, emphasizing that the alternatives to halt the violence in the neighboring country have not disappeared with the Russian and Chinese veto of an international resolution.

On Monday, the last day of the 48th edition of Munich Security Conference, Davutoğlu stated to Turkish reporters in Munich that Turkey and other neighboring countries are the ones who are most negatively affected by the crisis in Syria, saying that Turkey will, therefore, continue its consultations with the Arab League on finding new solutions for ending the violent crackdown in Syria.

“No country or organization is more concerned about Syria than Turkey and the Arab League, and, therefore, we will maintain our cooperation with the Arab League,” the foreign minister said.

Davutoğlu claimed that Turkey does not want any religious and ideological polarization on its borders, stating that it will try to use all alternatives available in finding a peaceful solution of the conflict considering recent tensions with Syria and Iraq.

Furthermore, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç also claimed that Turkey adopted an honorable position by raising criticisms and imposing sanctions no Syria in order pressure Assad to halt his atrocities. Arınç said in a televised interview in Bursa province that “Turkey has shown that it would always stand by those people who are oppressed,” while deploring Iran and other Syrian neighbors such as Lebanon and Iraq on remaining silent on Assad’s killings.

AK Party deputy Gönül Bekin Şahkulubey, member of the Foreign Relations Commission, told Today’s Zaman that she fears the Syrian regime will take the Russian and Chinese veto as carte blanche to continue cracking down on the opposition. “The Syrian regime is committing a massacre in front of the eyes of the whole world. Russia and China share the responsibility for every drop of the blood spilled in Syria now.”

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Deputy Chairman Mehmet Şandır, in speaking to Today’s Zamen, also said a global conflict is likely to erupt over Syria after the recent veto by Russia and China. Şandır claimed that Syria relied on these two partners in conducting Friday’s violent massacres.

Meanwhile, the international reactions against Russia have stiffened since it vetoed the UN resolution. Libyan protesters staged a demonstration against the Russian decision in front of the Russian Consulate in Tripoli on Monday. A group of demonstrators insulted the Russian flag on the consulate building after they had climbed onto the consulate’s roof, Russian media reported.

Also, a group of some 100 protesters had gathered in front of the Russian Embassy in Edinburgh, protesting the Russian veto. The group, carrying banners containing messages such as “Free Syria” and “Russian government lets Syrian people down,” on Monday shouted slogans against Moscow.