Turkey and France call for increased pressure on Syria
18 November 2011, Friday / TODAY’S ZAMAN , ANKARA
Foreign Minister Davutoğlu met with his French counterpart Juppé in Ankara
The Turkish and French foreign ministers, meeting in Ankara on Friday, called for greater international pressure on Syria as a government crackdown on anti-regime protesters in Turkey's southern neighbor escalates.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé has said his country opposes any unilateral intervention against Syria, insisting any such move should be mandated by the UN. At the joint press conference held after the two ministers had a tete-a-tete meeting, Juppé called on the UN Security Council to act against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, saying the time has come to toughen sanctions against Syria over its brutal crackdown on civilians. Juppé, who said France wanted to work with the Arab League and Turkey as well as the Syrian opposition, has expressed doubt on whether Syria would respond positively to an Arab League peace plan proposal.
His Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoğlu, has said pressure on Syria needs to be increased to stop the bloodshed, starting with economic sanctions. He also added, upon a question whether Turkey would support a no-fly zone over Syria, that there might be a need to enforce some measures if Syria continues its crackdown on civilians.
Recalling that Turkey and Syria had close ties in the past, and that Turkey has made many efforts to convince Assad to end the violence, Davutoğlu expressed his frustration with the Syrian regime which, he said, not only has turned a deaf ear to all calls of reform coming from Turkey and the world, but also, and most importantly, opened fire on his own people instead of listening to their demands. The issue that is of utmost importance in Syria is to put an end to the violence, Davutoğlu said and explained Turkey’s position on the matter: “At the moment the most important proposal is the one suggested by the Arab League, according to which the Arab League would send observers to Syria to inspect the withdrawal of soldiers from the cities. If this initiative by the Arab league, which Turkey also supports, does not get a positive response, then some sanctions will be necessary.”
Juppé said the EU was planning to toughen the sanctions already in place against Syria’s economic assets and some people in Syria, and added that the EU countries have already agreed to apply sanctions in such a way that the ordinary people in Syria would not be affected adversely. Expressing his doubt about Syria accepting the Arab League’s proposals, Juppé said, “We are not in favor of a unilateral intervention, and should any military action be needed then that should be mandated by the UN Security Council.” But according to Associated Press, a senior Syrian official said on Friday that Syria agreed “in principle” to allow an Arab League observer mission into the country, but Damascus was still studying the details.
Turkey and France call for increased pressure on Syria
