Opposition deputy says Turkish FM acts like ‘warmonger’

ANKARA

Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Faruk Loğoğlu speaks to reporters during a press conference. AA photo

Any intervention to be launched into Syria without the authorization of a U.N. resolution may spark a regional fire, the main opposition party has warned, urging the government to be patient for any response to what has been happening in neighboring Syria and to wait for results of a U.N. examination on the use of chemical weapons before taking any unilateral action.

Speaking at a press conference at the Parliament, Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Chair Faruk Loğoğlu, recalled Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s recently delivered remarks in which he said Turkey would join any international coalition against Syria even if a wider consensus on action could not be reached at the U.N. Security Council.

The government has been blatantly dragging the country into a war with its Syria policy, as Davutoğlu himself is acting like “a warmonger as he acts irresponsibly” Loğoğlu, a former undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry, said.

Echoing what CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said on Aug. 25 about the use of chemical weapons, Loğoğlu reiterated that it was “a crime against humanity” which they condemned no matter who the perpetrator was.

‘Turkey doesn’t need war’

“Turkey doesn’t need a war,” he said, recalling that there were countries like Russia and Iran who were against an intervention into Syria. “What is our aim that we want intervention into this country? Davutoğlu and the Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan] will be responsible for those civilians who will lose their lives during bombing of Damascus.”

Emphasizing that their party had not been lending support to the Assad regime in Syria either, Loğoğlu, however, noted that U.N. inspectors were already allowed by Syria to investigate sites of an alleged chemical weapons strike on the outskirts of the Syrian capital.

“While this investigation is not yet finalized, the US, Britain and France are adamantly stating that chemical weapons were used and this was done by the Assad regime. The regime is denying this.”

Loğoğlu argued that the case concerning Syria resembled what happened in Iraq in the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2003. He was referring to the fact that the invasion was based on false information about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

When asked about Kılıçdaroğlu’s recent remarks in which he suggested that he could be visiting Gaza under appropriate conditions like he visited Iraq last week, Loğoğlu said there was no official contact for such a visit yet. However, certain discussions are held on such a visit, he added. “No place that Davutoğlu and the Prime Minister can visit is left in the Middle East. We can go everywhere.”