TURKEY: Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan labels U.N. Security Council 'unjust'

Record ID: 217592

  • Title: TURKEY: Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan labels U.N. Security Council 'unjust'
  • Date: 14th October 2012
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (OCTOBER 13, 2012) (REUTERS) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN ADDRESSING ISTANBUL WORLD FORUM AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN SAYING: "If we leave the issue to the vote of one or two members of the permanent five at the United Nations, then the aftermath of Syria would be very hazardous and humanity will write
  • Embargoed: 29th October 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVABF5MV256D9M39JNXMNBTPQS8R
  • Story Text: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan slammed the United Nations for inaction over the bloodshed in Syria on Saturday (October 13) as war intensified across the country, saying it was repeating mistakes which allowed a massacre in Bosnia almost two decades ago.
    President Bashar al-Assad's forces used air strikes and artillery to bombard insurgents on several fronts in the latest fighting in the 19-month-old conflict, which risks dragging in regional powers with no sign of a diplomatic breakthrough.
    Turkey has led calls for intervention, including no-fly zones enforced by foreign aircraft to stop deadly air raids by Assad's forces. But there is little chance of U.N. backing such action given the opposition of veto-wielding members Russia and China.
    "If we leave the issue to the vote of one or two members of the permanent five at the United Nations, then the aftermath of Syria would be very hazardous and humanity will write it down in history with unforgettable remarks," Erdogan told a conference in Istanbul, attended by dignitaries including Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby.
    The war has reached new levels of intensity in the past two months although neither side has been able to gain a distinct advantage, with the government force relying heavily on air power and artillery to batter the rebels.
    Combat has been reported nationwide but the crucial strategic battles are being fought in an arc through western Syria, where most of the population lives.
    Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was expected to meet U.N. special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi on the sidelines of the Istanbul conference later. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said this week Brahimi would visit Syria soon to try to persuade Assad to call an immediate ceasefire.
    The U.N. Security Council, divided between Western powers on one side and Russia and China on the other, has proven helpless in halting a conflict which has spiralled into civil war and killed more than 30,000 people.
    Erdogan said a system which allowed one or two nations to block intervention in such a massive humanitarian crisis was inherently unjust, and that Syria would go down in history as a U.N. failure much like Bosnia in the 1990s.
    "It's hightime to consider a structural change for international institutions, especially for the U.N. Security Council. Each day, It becomes more and more difficult for international institutions with unjust, unequal and inactive mechanisms to function and fullfil their duty," Erdogan told the Istanbul conference.
    Turkish officials had expressed hopes they might be able to persuade Moscow, which sold Syria $1 billion of arms last year, to soften its strident opposition at the U.N. Security Council and that if it succeeded, China would follow suit.
    But relations between Ankara and Moscow reached a new low this week, after Turkey forced down an airliner flying from Moscow and publicly accused Russia of ferrying military equipment to Assad's forces.
    Russia has said there were no weapons on the plane and that it was carrying a legal shipment of radar equipment.
    Tensions between Ankara and Damascus have also worsened. Turkey scrambled two fighter jets on Friday after a Syrian helicopter bombed Azmarin and has warned of a more forceful response if Syrian shells continue to fly over the border.
    Syria's state-run SANA news agency said Damascus was ready to accept a Russian proposal for a Syrian-Turkish joint security committee to try to contain the border violence, but there was no confirmation of this on the Turkish side.
    The Beirut Star newspaper said in an editorial that the incidents on the Turkish-Syrian border represented a "potentially catastrophic turning point" which could turn the civil war into a regional one.
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