TURKEY: U.N. and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's latest proposal will not work and President Bashar al-Assad is deceitful say Syrian refugees during a protest

Record ID: 281177

  • Title: TURKEY: U.N. and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's latest proposal will not work and President Bashar al-Assad is deceitful say Syrian refugees during a protest
  • Date: 30th June 2012
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNNAMED SYRIAN REFUGEE, SAYING: "[United Nations and Arab League envoy] Kofi Annan's new proposal is no different than the old one. It will not work. We call on the world to say that this proposal will not work. It will neither precipitate [Syrian President Bashar al] Assad's departure nor prevent people from being killed." PROTESTERS (SOUNDBITE) (A
  • Embargoed: 15th July 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflict,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3XRHWMAW1P5AJJQMAFKCXT19H
  • Story Text: Syrian refugees in Turkey condemned global inaction and the ineffectiveness of peace plans intended to end the bloodshed of a 16-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
    The refugees gathered in their camp in Yayladagi, in Turkey, after Friday (June 29) prayers and sang songs, clapped, danced and chanted, as Assad's forces bombarded northern towns near the Turkish border.
    "[United Nations and Arab League envoy] Kofi Annan's new proposal is no different than the old one. It will not work. We call on the world to say that this proposal will not work. It will neither precipitate [Syrian President Bashar al] Assad's departure nor prevent people from being killed," said an unnamed protester.
    "Bashar al-Assad is a liar. He never keeps his promises and he never stops killing. On the contrary, he launches more attacks and kills more and more people everyday," he added.
    Helicopter gunships bombarded a strategic town in northern Syria overnight and tanks moved close to the commercial hub of Aleppo, rebels said, but kept well clear of new Turkish air defences installed to curb Syrian action near its frontiers.
    The United States, Britain and France have said that Assad is responsible for the violence, which the United Nations estimates has killed at least 10,000 people, and is no longer fit to govern. Russia and China, however, reject what they describe as Western calls for "regime change".
    Turkey, sheltering some 34,000 Syrian refugees and providing bases for the rebel Free Syria Army (FSA), is in the forefront of the efforts to bring down Assad.
    The world has been accused by Syrian opposition activists of inertia over the bloodshed. Diplomacy has failed to produce agreement between Western powers, backing the opposition, and Russia, which has used its U.N. veto to block Western and Sunni Arab moves to drive Assad from power.
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