Turkey denies attempt to convince Russia on Syria

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Turkey is not trying to convince Russia to drop its resistance to Western pressure over Syria, but is instead consulting with Russia, Turkey’s foreign minister told reporters yesterday in Istanbul.

“Though we diverge on some points, the meeting was productive,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said, referring to the meeting between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 18.

Every possibility and alternative for addressing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s killings was discussed during the meeting, Davutoğlu said. Commenting on the deadly blast that killed three senior Syrian security officials of the al-Assad regime on July 18, Davutoğlu said Turkey wishes the scene had never taken place. 

There have been different interpretations made of an agreement reached in Geneva on the principles of a political transition in Syria as proposed by international mediator Kofi Annan, Davutoğlu said.

The main elements of the agreement are the establishment of a transitional government and the transfer of full executive authority to this transitional governing body, Davutoğlu said, adding that the transfer of executive authority is of primary importance.

“If the current government had been acting on legitimate grounds, these elements would not have been expressed in this way,” Davutoğlu said, adding that the al-Assad administration must leave power in order for all of the elements of the Geneva agreement to be fulfilled.