PM Erdoğan says 'limited' intervention not enough, President Gül insists on political strategy

ANKARA

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Abdullah Gül gave divergent messages regarding possible U.S. led military intervention in Syria on Aug. 30. AA photo

Turkish officials gave divergent messages regarding possible U.S.-led military intervention in Syria on Aug. 30, following the release of an intelligence report on a chemical attack perpetrated by regime forces on Aug. 21.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said a "limited" operation would not be enough to satisfy Ankara and pleaded for an intervention similar to the one in Kosovo in 1999. 

President Abdullah Gül, meanwhile, insisted on diplomacy and the elaboration of a "political strategy." 

"I don't believe any military intervention will bring results without the adoption of a political strategy," Gül told reporters at the Victory Day reception he hosted at the presidential palace on Aug. 30.

"The solution will be through politics and diplomacy. It should be aimed at forcing politics and diplomacy and opening its door. Russia and Iran should be engaged one way or another," he added.

The president also insisted that Turkey could not stay outside of developments in Syria. "There is the possibility of long-term chaos and uncertainty in Syria. Turkey cannot stay indifferent to developments in Syria. We cannot stay outside of it, because it is us who most want an end to the chaos in the region," Gül was quoted as saying.

Intervention should push the regime to the brink: PM

At the same reception, Erdoğan commented on U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's statement that the United States wanted to act, but that any military response would be "tailored." Kerry's statements were later backed by U.S. President Barack Obama, who said Washington was studying the possibility of "limited and narrow" action.

Erdoğan told reporters that any intervention should be more than a "hit-and-run."

"Looking at what Kerry has said, there could be an intervention prior to the G-20 summit. This intervention should not be a one or two days hit-and-run, but push the regime to the point of collapsing," Erdoğan said.

"A limited military action will not satisfy us. It [the intervention] should be like in Kosovo," he added.

The G-20 summit is due to start on Sept. 5 in Russia's imperial capital St. Petersburg. 

Chief of General Staff Necdet Özel also commented on possible military action against Syria, saying that necessary preparations had been made.