Davutoğlu says Turkey would react to border violations

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Ankara reserves its rights under Article 5 of the NATO charter and will take measures against any border violations, but the implementation of the Annan plan is a priority, the Turkish foreign minister told reporters yesterday.

“There has been a tendency of decreasing violence [in Syria] ... If the plan can be carried out, a new era may start. But it’s too early to comment,” Davutoğlu said after Syria declared a cease-fire yesterday. International observers should go to Syria, and conditions in which the Syrian people can peacefully express their demands should be provided, he said, speaking at a joint press conference with Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin yesterday.

Davutoğlu said Turkey had asked the U.N. and NATO to record the recent border violation.He said he would brief members of the alliance on Syrian forces’ border violation during a NATO meeting next week. “The Turkish border is a NATO border,” and NATO says it takes its responsibility to defend its allies “extremely seriously,” Davutoğlu said.

Meanwhile, Turkish National Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz said Turkey would act together with the international community regarding the Syria issue, speaking from Belgrade where he was attending a meeting with the defense ministers of the Southeast European Cooperation Process.

CHP: Turkey becomes a ‘warmonger’
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu slammed the government’s foreign policy, saying Turkey has become a “warmonger” and once again accusing the government of pursuing policies in line with U.S. interests.

“Turkey has never been such a warmonger throughout its history. Interfering in another country’s internal affairs is unacceptable; every country’s people makes its own struggle and determines its administration. War is murder unless it’s obligatory. Why are we campaigning for war? Turkey has lost its reputation with its current foreign policy because the government pursues its foreign policy in accordance with other countries’ interests,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.

Oktay Vural of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) also called Erdoğan a “warmonger” and said the government’s stance on the Syrian crisis flouted the Turkish state’s principles and traditions. Vural likened the AKP to a “Trojan horse” in the Muslim world and charged that it was fanning sectarian and ethnic strife in the region.