Turkish PM says limited action against Syria won't be enough, calls for Kosovo-like intervention

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency / Hürriyet

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan participates in the Victory Day reception at the presidential palace in Ankara on Aug. 30. AA photo

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said the U.S. statement on a "limited" military action against Syria will not be enough to satisfy Ankara, pleading for an intervention similar to the one in Kosovo in 1999.

"A limited military action will not satisfy us. It [the intervention] should be like in Kosovo," Erdoğan was quoted by daily Hürriyet as saying during the Victory Day reception at the presidential palace on Aug. 30.

A few minutes earlier, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had given signs during a press briefing in Washington that the United States would act following last week's chemical attack in Syria, but said its response would be "tailored."

Erdoğan told reporters that the intervention could take place next week.

"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," he said.

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

Erdoğan said Turkey had made efforts to solve the issue diplomatically up to now, but had been unsuccessful. "We did not get any result for eight months. We had some work with Russia and Iran too, but we didn't get any results either," he added.

Answering a question, the prime minister also said that authority was with President Abdullah Gül with regard to mobilizing Turkish troops. "We don't need memorandums at the present moment. Parliament is on vacation until Oct. 4. Will an extraordinary session be required or not? We will talk about this with our president. He holds authority during the period in which Parliament is closed," Erdoğan said.

For his part, Chief of General Staff Necdet Özel told reporters that necessary preparations had been made, and he was "not worried" about the possible intervention.