- Title: MIDEAST CRISIS/ERDOGAN-NEWSER Erdogan criticises West's action on Syria, Iraq
- Date: 19th November 2014
- Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (NOVEMBER 19, 2014) (REUTERS) TURKEY'S PRESIDENT TAYYIP ERDOGAN ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE AT ESENBOGA AIRPORT OFFICIALS, REPORTERS ATTENDING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKEY'S PRESIDENT TAYYIP ERDOGAN SAYING: "What is ideal, what needs to be done (in Syria and Iraq), has not been realised yet. If we only focus on training and supplying (rebels
- Embargoed: 4th December 2014 12:00
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- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA5QLRBHAV9A8NNGJCBX3BTFUJ0
- Story Text: Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday (November 19), renewed his criticism of US-led coalition airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq saying they were falling short of resolving the crisis.
Turkey hosts more than 1.5 million refugees from Syria's civil war and has been pushing for the US-led coalition to broaden its campaign to tackle Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as well as Islamic State, arguing there can be no peace in Syria with Assad in power.
Speaking at a news conference in Ankara, Erdogan signalled Turkey will not back down from its demands to unseat Assad and the establishment of no-fly zones.
"What is ideal, what needs to be done (in Syria and Iraq), has not been realised yet. If we only focus on training and supplying (rebels) we would deceive ourselves. Iraq and Syria need to be assessed separately. In Syria, we need a plan that targets the Syrian regime as well," Erdogan told reporters at Esenboga Airport before departing for an official visit to Algeria.
"The coalition has not yet taken the steps we asked and urged them to take. We are going through a period where we see some signs and possibilities, but without these steps, Turkey will continue to maintain it's current position," he added.
Turkey has so far been a reluctant member of the US-led coalition to tackle Islamic State, a group of radical Sunni Muslim fighters who have seized vast swathes of territory in northern Syria and Iraq, declaring an Islamic "caliphate" that extends across the border between the two countries.
Ankara points to humanitarian efforts that have seen it give shelter to nearly two million Syrians since the beginning of the war in 2011 as proof of its commitment to the region.
But, Turkey has also made it clear it sees Assad as a bigger threat than Islamic State, and has demanded the creation of safe areas in northern Syria and a no-fly zone before it will take a more active military role.
Erdogan said equal measures should be taken in Iraq.
"Forty percent of Iraq is under occupation. It will not be possible to get a positive outcome in Iraq before taking the measures we asked for. A no fly zone and a safety zone need to be established in Iraq along with a training (for rebels) and supply strategy," he said.
Erdogan's comments came as the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani, accused Western countries of not providing enough heavy weapons to help his 'peshmerga' forces deliver a "decisive blow" against Islamic State militants.
Western powers see the Kurds as a vital bulwark against further IS advances. France, Britain, Germany and others have begun arming the Kurds, whose Soviet-era weaponry has proved ineffective against insurgents flush with hardware plundered from the Iraqi army after it abandoned its posts in June.
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