Arab Spring is a delayed process: FM

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said the Arab Spring, which has brought and is bringing new administrations to the Middle East, is a delayed process that should have happened in the late 1980s and 1990s as in Eastern Europe.

“It is time to naturalize the flow of history. I see all these revolutions as a delayed process that should have happened in the late ’80s and ’90s as in Eastern Europe,” Davutoğlu said in an interview published in the Midan Masr (Tahrir Square) newspaper published in EU countries.

He said that “change and transformation are necessary. If you try to resist the flow of history, you will lose. No leader, however charismatic, can stop the flow of history... No one should cling to the old Cold War logic. No one should argue that only a particular regime or person can guarantee a country’s stability. The only guarantee of stability is the people.” He was particularly referring to Syria, where the regime of President Bashar al-Assad has been attacking citizens just to remain in power. “This process must be led by the people of each country, but there should be regional ownership. This is our region,” Davutoğlu said.