Al-Assad uses chemical weapons, says Turkish PM Erdoğan

ANKARA

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has given an interview to the Japanese daily Nikkei. DHA photo

The Syrian regime has used chemical weapons against rebels, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, adding that he would discuss the issue with U.S. President Barack Obama during his upcoming visit to Washington.

“We will discuss the use of chemical weapons during the meeting with President Obama. It is obvious that the al-Assad regime is using it,” Erdoğan told Japanese daily Nikkei in an interview.

“The opposition dominates on land however al-Assad uses chemical weapons, war planes and helicopters. The only field the regime is superior in is air backed operations. The regime is living its final moments but we don’t know when it will topple. This is a situation that will happen suddenly,” the prime minister said.

U.S. President Obama on Tuesday said there was evidence that chemical weapons had been used during Syria’s two-year conflict, but that it was not yet known how the chemical weapons were used, when they were used and who used them.

Washington has long said it views the use of chemical weapons in Syria as a “red line,” but wary of the false intelligence that was used to justify the 2003 war in Iraq, it has said it wants proof before taking action.