Syria fired up to 90 Scuds, says Turkish FM

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici

The Syrian regime has fired up to 90 Scud-type ballistic missiles into residential areas in the last two months, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said in a recent television interview.

“The Syrian regime first used snipers, then artillery, tanks and then jets, helicopters. Now it is using Scud missiles. Al-Assad’s forces have fired 85-90 Scud missiles in the last two months,” the foreign minister said in an interview with private broadcaster NTV. “They press a button in Damascus and the missile lands in a residential area in Aleppo and kills civilians.”

A Turkish official told Hürriyet Daily News last month that the Syrian government has fired more than 40 Scud-type ballistic missiles at rebel positions in the country’s north in the last two months. The government has been forced to use the Scuds because it has lost control of the cities, the official said, adding that it previously used warplanes until opposition militants acquired the ability to respond with anti-aircraft weapons.

At least 33 people were killed on Feb. 19 after an apparent surface-to-surface missile strike on a residential area of the northern city of Aleppo.

Davutoğlu also said that totalitarian regimes won’t be able to survive in the Twitter era, referring to embattled leader Bashar al-Assad. “Egypt was an authoritarian regime that at least allowed opposition to be in politics, but tried to prevent their participation in administration. Syria was a totalitarian regime that ignored opposition and perceives society as a single structure,” Davutoğlu said.