Adopt a united position against Damascus: Davutoğlu

CAIRO

Ahmet Davutoğlu says Turkey does not want to present itself as a role model.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has called on the international community to adopt a unified position to deal with the crisis in Syria, adding that Turkey will continue to be at the center of efforts on this issue.

Davutoğlu said “the recipe for ending the crisis should ideally originate from the region and be implemented with the support of the international community,” in an interview with the Cairo Review on March 7. “The most effective way of dealing with the crisis in Syria is the adoption of a unified position by the international community as a whole. It will only be then that the Assad regime will finally comprehend that persisting in its current policies will only lead to more bloodshed and nothing else,” said Davutoğlu.

“Sharing a 910-kilometer-long border with Syria, Turkey will continue to be at the center of the efforts to address the crisis in this country,” he added. Turkey will sustain its efforts in cooperation with regional and international actors and to pave the ground for a political transformation process in the country, he added.

Davutoğlu said Turkey could not remain indifferent to incidents in Syria, which is not just a neighboring country. “We have a common history, we share a very long land border and we are destined to live next to each other,” he added.

Turkey should not be seen as role model: FM

Davutoğlu also denied having a neo-Ottomanism perspective in foreign policy, and said that Turkey did not want to be seen as a “role model” for countries in the region. “Every country has its own unique characteristics. As Turkey, we do not want to present ourselves, nor to be seen, as a role model,” said Davutoğlu, responding to a question as to whether Turkey can be a model for Egypt’s transition to democracy. “If needed, Turkey remains ready to share her own democratic experience with all interested countries,” he added.