Foreign Ministry denies claims of secret agreements with Syrian opposition

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu meets with Syrian opposition leader Sheikh Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, March 26. Al-Khatib was chosen as the head of the Syrian National Coalition, which was established following the Doha talks in November 2012. AA photo

The Turkish Foreign Ministry denied March 28 opposition claims that Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu signed secret agreements with the Syrian opposition on the sidelines of talks in Qatar Nov. 8 to 11, 2012.

"The allegations made by the spokesperson of the main opposition do not reflect the truth. The fact that a meeting held in Doha aimed to unite the opposition under a single roof was indicated in a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry on Nov. 12, 2012. The [Doha] meeting did not have any secret dimension," the ministry's statement read.

The agreements contained provisions such as the delivery of Qatari natural gas to Europe with a pipeline crossing Syria and Turkey, Republican People's Party Spokesperson Haluk Koç had claimed March 27. He also alleged that it had been planned to transport water from the Atatürk dam to Israel via Syria.
"Such libel from the main opposition spokesman, stated without any research and aiming to harm Turkey's reputation, cannot be excused. The people and organizations that put forward these unfounded claims are amenable to giving evidence," the statement read.

The Foreign Ministry also denied claims reported by the Turkish media that Davutoğlu had visited Israel months prior to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's apology to hold negotiations on the issue.