Turkey says peace in Syria only possible without Assad

ANKARA

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, (center L ), Britain's Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, (center R ) U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (R) and British Ambassador to the U.N. Matthew Rycroft speak before a meeting of the Security Council at the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan, New York, December 18, 2015. REUTERS Photo

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has urged peace and stability can only be fully provided in Syria after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and “blood-guilty” elements of his regime leave the scene, as part of a plan that envisages a road map for a political transition in the war-torn country, which was endorsed by the U.N. Security Council on late Dec. 18. 

“Peace and stability in Syria will only be possible through free and just elections in which people can directly reflect their will, the establishment of a full authorized transitional government and Bashar al-Assad and all other blood-guilt elements of the regime quitting the scene. In that regard, Turkey will continue to contribute to this political process,” a written statement issued by the Foreign Ministry said late Dec. 19. 

Recalling that the U.N. Security Council’s resolution reflected the framework agreement reached through the Vienna talks in October and November held by the International Syria Support Group, the statement underlined that it envisaged a process in which elements of the regime and the opposition negotiate the establishment of a transitional government which will take the country to elections. 

“Turkey has been supporting a solution in which Bashar al-Assad hands over all his power to a transitional government in the envisaged political transition period,” it said, underlining that it was paying utmost importance to the meetings between the al-Assad regime and the Syrian opposition.