Turkish PM accuses the international community of encouraging al-Assad

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

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The international community is practically giving a green light to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to kill hundreds of people every day in his country, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said today.

“So what is the source of this attitude? If we have to wait for what one or two of the perminant membes of the U.N. Security Council will say, then the consequences for Syria will be very dangerous,” Erdoğan told participants at the Istanbul World Forum earlier today.

The Istanbul World Forum brings together politicians, leading academics, business executives, experts, NGO leaders, artists, authors and media personalities from around the world.

Erdoğan said that despite all efforts, the U.N. Security Council had not properly taken stock of the human drama that has been continuing in Syria for the past 20 months.

“More than 30,000 people have been killed in Syria; 250,000 people have had to leave their homes and flee. Some 100,000 of these people are in Turkey right now – they are our guests here,” the prime minister said.

Erdoğan criticized the international community and the Security Council for not taking action in Syria.

“The U.N., which was an onlooker to the massacres of hundreds of thousands of people in the Balkans 20 years ago, is having the same kind of blindness in Syria today. What kind of explanation can be made for the injustice and the inability that is being displayed here?” he said.

“While tens of hundreds of people are being killed every day in Syria, as long there are still those who think about what gain they can get from the Syrian situation, the face of humanity will continue to get red,” Erdoğan said.

Erdoğan said there was injustice in many international organizations, including the U.N. Security Council. “Nobody can claim that the U.N. Security Council is built upon a fair structure. We have left the world to the mercy of five permanent members – whatever they say happens. The U.N. has to be reformed in line with justice,” Erdoğan said.