TURKEY: Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan calls on the Syrian regime to fulfil its pledges and fully implement the peace plan by U.N.-Arab league envoy Kofi Annan

Record ID: 217561

  • Title: TURKEY: Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan calls on the Syrian regime to fulfil its pledges and fully implement the peace plan by U.N.-Arab league envoy Kofi Annan
  • Date: 18th April 2012
  • Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (APRIL 17, 2012) (REUTERS) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN ARRIVING TO ADDRESS MEMBERS OF HIS AK PARTY DEPUTIES LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN SAYING: "The Syrian administration must stop dispatching troops to residential towns, halt using heavy weaponry and withdraw its armed forces deployed around residentia
  • Embargoed: 3rd May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey, Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA3I3YN8I2R37LCQFTEJUARUJJP
  • Story Text: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday (April 17) called on the Syrian regime to fulfil its pledges and fully implement the peace plan by U.N.-Arab league envoy Kofi Annan.
    "The Syrian administration must stop dispatching troops to residential towns, halt using heavy weaponry and withdraw armed forces deployed around residential towns in order to comply with the Annan plan. Although Syria's regime pledges full compliance with these terms, unfortunately, attacks on civilians and peaceful protesters continue," Erdogan told members of his AK Party.
    "As Turkey, we stressed it is utmost important that the monitors should start working in this region as soon as possible and they should investigate whether the Annan plan is being implemented in the field. Of course, a ceasefire is not a solution to the Syrian people's problems. Dispatching humanitarian aid to the region and enabling journalists to work in the country is urgently needed," Erdogan added.
    Unrelenting bloodshed in Syria complicated preparations by a team of U.N. observers on Tuesday to monitor a truce that has brought only short-lived breaks in violence since President Bashar al-Assad pledged to enforce it last week.
    The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, relaying reports from anti-Assad activists, said at least two people were killed and dozens wounded by shelling as troops sought to take control of the town of Basr al-Harir in the southern province of Deraa, which activists say has been a rebel stronghold.
    Assad, who agreed a peace plan with U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan more than three weeks ago, has apparently ignored its primary demand - that tanks, troops and heavy weapons be withdrawn from populated areas and all forms of violence cease.
    Refugees at Turkey's Yayladagi camp on the Syrian border were sceptical of the ceasefire.
    "We didn't benefit anything from Kofi Annan. Everything is the same. Tanks are still in Syria and people are being killed, so what did we benefit from Kofi Annan and this committee that went to Syria?," asked Abdulkerim Mustafa Adaman.
    "We are bored of the lies and from all the deadlines -- one deadline after another and people are getting killed. We don't want human rights, other countries or anything like that. Just give us weapons and we will protect ourselves. We don't want all this -- everyday people get killed -- women, children and men, they are all getting killed. All the countries are siding with Bashar," said another refugee.
    An Arab League monitoring mission was aborted in January after just a month in the country. Unarmed Arab observers said the government crackdown on protesters and armed rebels had made their mission too dangerous.
    The advance United Nations team has set up an operations office in an existing United Nations office in Damascus and visited the foreign ministry on Tuesday.
    Damascus says that, as with the Arab League operation, all of the unarmed U.N. mission's "steps on the ground" must be coordinated with the state for its own safety.
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