Ankara urges US, UN to take action on Syria

ANKARA / NEW YORK

Turkish FM Davutoğlu (L) calls on international actors to play more active role in Syrian crisis, at a meeting with US Secretary of State Clinton. AA Photo

Turkey once more urged the U.S. to take action on the Syrian crisis in a meeting between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu in New York.

In the meeting Davutoğlu said international actors should play a more active role in Syria with regard both to the political crisis and humanitarian assistance, diplomatic sources told Hürriyet Daily News. The clashes in Akçakale on Turkey’s border with Syria were also discussed, which was held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 26.

The two also discussed the anti-Islam movie that recently caused anger in a number of Muslim countries. Clinton thanked Turkey for its attitude during the incidents instigated in response to the video, stressing the significance of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s call for moderation during the incidents. Clinton thanked Turkey for assuming a clear stance on the matter from the very beginning.
The U.N. should send a “clear signal to the Syrian regime” that certain measures will be taken if they do not change their policies, Davutoğlu told BBC Television on Sept. 27. “[The crisis in Syria] is a huge security threat. Why? Because we have a 911-kilometer border, and now there is a power vacuum on that border.”

Meanwhile, Erdoğan lashed out at Russia, China and Iran in a televised interview late on Sept. 27, saying their stance on the crisis in Syria was allowing a massacre to go on unabated. “While Russia should not have remained silent on the massacre in Syria, they have chosen to be on the side of those committing the massacre,” he said. “China stands by Russia, and although [Chinese President] Hu Jintao had told me they wouldn’t veto the plan [for a safe zone] for a third time, they did at the U.N. vote.” Erdoğan described Iran’s position on the Syria crisis as “impossible to understand.”