Syria talk of Ankara as Erdoğan heads to US

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

A female rebel holds her weapon in this photo. Syria diplomacy grips Ankara ahead of PM Erdoğan’s US talks. AFP photo

Only days before a key meeting between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House on May 16, the Turkish capital appears to be at the center of a whirlwind of diplomacy concerning the Syrian conflict, with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu holding frequent telephone conversations with his counterparts from ally countries including the United States. According to Turkish officials, it should not be surprising to see more spontaneously arranged contacts and meetings in the coming days as well, like Davutoğlu’s one-day working visit to Jordan on May 10.

As of May 9, Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi separately initiated telephone conversations with Davutoğlu, and all the conversations turned to consultations focusing on the Syrian conflict. During another telephone conversation earlier in the week, Jordan Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh asked Davutoğlu to visit his country to have talks on the Syria issue in depth. Judeh met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry May 9 in Rome before flying to Moscow for talks on Syria. Thus, Judeh would be meeting with Davutoğlu following his talks in the Russian capital.

Three calss with Kerry

Davutoğlu and Kerry already had a phone conversation late on May 8 in which Kerry shared details about his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov as well as his impressions about the Syrian crisis, regarding which he and the Russian leaders had agreed to proceed in accordance with the Geneva Convention. The two had a phone conversation on May 6 as Kerry called Davutoğlu for consultations on the Syria conflict ahead of his arrival in the Russian capital. All three conversations, in the same week, took place upon Kerry’s initiative, diplomatic sources said. “Erdoğan’s upcoming U.S. visit has increased in importance in this regard,” the same sources said. “A more concrete picture and certain decisions in regards to what kind of an action will be taken by the international community in Syria are expected to emerge during the visit,” the sources added.