Turkish President Gül welcomes the EU's Syria arms decision

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

President Abdullah Gül (L) welcomes his Tunisian counterpart Moncef Marzouki in Ankara. Gül has praised the EU's Syria decision. DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin SÖNMEZ

Turkish President Abdullah Gül welcomed yesterday the EU decision to lift the arms embargo on the Syrian opposition.

“It’s obvious that nobody can suppress people through arms and the army. In this respect, we welcome the world and international community to stake a claim on [the Syrian] opposition and support them,” Gül said yesterday at a joint press conference with Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki.

Asked about the interference in the clashes in Syria of the policies of Hezbollah and Iran, the Turkish president warned against a “sectarian clash” that could spark in the region.

The “fever” in Syria should not spill out, Gül said, warning against “proxy wars” in the Middle East. “That door must not be opened. If sectarian wars erupted, a situation that would be cursed by all the Islamic world and future generations would emerge.” Actors in the region “should not act in a way aiming to gain position,” he added.

‘Politicians decide on polls’

For his part, Marzouki expressed concern for Tunisian youngsters that go to Syria to take part in clashes. Those young people might create problems in the future when they come back to Tunisia, he said.

The politicians will decide whether to hold three polls in 2014, Gül also said, declining to elaborate further on the possibility Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently voiced on a referendum for a new Constitution, the local elections set for March 2014 and the presidential elections in August 2014.

“I have nothing to say. We leave it to the politicians,” Gül told reporters.