Turkey urges aiding Syrian people if Security Council fails to act

He said Turkey was ready to host an international conference to support the Syrian people, and to send a message to President Assad to halt a crackdown on his opponents. Davutoğlu said that if the UN Security Council fails to protect civilians, then like-minded countries should find ways to end the killing and deliver aid to civilians trapped by military assault, especially those in Homs.

“We definitely want to have this meeting in our region showing concerns and the sensitivities and solidarity and regional ownership, maybe in Turkey, maybe in another country,” Davutoğlu said in an interview shortly before he was due to leave for the United States for talks on Syria.

“It is not enough being an observer. It is time now to send a strong message to the Syrian people that we are with them,” Davutoğlu said in the interview.

Officials from the Prime Ministry and the Foreign Ministry -- who declined to be named -- told Today’s Zaman on Tuesday that Turkey does not want to let the continuing massacres in Syria to be forgotten in the wake of the UN failure to adopt a resolution against Syria.

According to these officials, Turkey does not plan to take any steps to prepare for a military intervention in Syria. The initiative it wants to make is just in the preparation phase. Since countries such as France have made many proposals, Ankara wants to act with caution and hold talks about the format of its own initiative.

Turkey could host an international conference on Syria in the near future, and Turkey is ready to host such a conference, but it does not object to Arab states organizing such a conference.

As to which countries Turkey will cooperate with on the initiative, one diplomatic source said Turkey does not plan to cooperate with countries such as Russia, China and Iran, adding that the Arab League will certainly be included in the process.

Assad cannot use PKK terror as trump card against Turkey

In another interview with Turkey’s NTV TV station, Davutoğlu said provoking terrorism and leveraging the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) against Turkey is beyond the power of the Assad regime in Syria, which has severely strained its ties with Turkey after a violent crackdown on Syrian opposition forces.

He added that Turkey will not allow Syria to aggravate terrorism on Turkish soil. Referring to armed insurgent groups’ recent seizure of the city of Zabadani, where there have been clashes with Assad’s forces since January, he claimed that Damascus does not even have a monopoly on power in its own territories, let alone the ability to control cross-border attacks on Turkey.

Zabadani is a mountainous city near the Syrian capital of Damascus, where Syrian opposition forces, called the Free Syrian Army, have recently taken control. Insurgents heralded it as an unprecedented victory -- the first city where the government has been unable to take even partial control.

Davutoğlu avoided answering a question on whether Turkey will participate in an armed intervention in Syria, in the event that such an intervention happens. “We strongly hope that there will be no need for foreign intervention,” he stated, asserting that an intervention would further the economic and social burdens of the Syrian people, in an already conflict-weary country.

Davutoğlu also reiterated the Turkish government’s claims that the Assad regime lost all its credibility in the international arena and offers no hope that it will implement reforms, considering the atrocities it has conducted against its own people.

The violence of the Assad regime became even crueler with the Friday attacks in Homs, when 85 people were killed. Syrian forces have been bombarding Homs since Monday in a sustained assault on several districts in the city, which has become a center of armed opposition to the Assad regime.

“Assad has constantly promised to reform since the very start of clashes with opposition forces. But he is only trying to save time with these false promises in order to commit more atrocities,” Davutoğlu stated. The foreign minister said he still anticipates Assad will finally realize Syria has become irreparably isolated under its authoritarian government and agree to resign.

Russia and China recently vetoed a UN resolution backing an Arab plan calling on President Assad to quit. Their vetoes blocked an attempt to end a nearly 11-month-long crackdown on protesters. The two countries’ position has angered the United States, Europe and much of the Arab world, who fear the Syrian administration will take courage from this and continue its crackdown vis-à-vis support from Russia and China.

Mentioning an influx of Syrian immigrants into Turkey, which would greatly increase in the event of an outside intervention, Davutoğlu said, “Turkey’s doors are open to those who flee from oppression.”

Davutoğlu asserted that Turkey and other neighboring countries in the Middle East are the most negatively affected by the Syrian crisis and other conflicts in the region. Considering this, he claimed the Syrian crisis should be solved with direct initiatives from those countries.

Meanwhile the foreign minister arrived in the United States on Wednesday for a diplomatic visit to exchange views on bilateral and regional issues with US officials. Davutoğlu denied speculations that the talks will exclusively focus on the Syrian crisis and a possible foreign intervention in Syria. He will pay a seven-day visit to the US with an invitation from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, starting on Wednesday.