BELGIUM: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says he supports EU lifting of Syrian arms embargo because that would grant the Syrian people 'the right of self-defence'

Record ID: 860410

  • Title: BELGIUM: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says he supports EU lifting of Syrian arms embargo because that would grant the Syrian people 'the right of self-defence'
  • Date: 27th May 2013
  • Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (MAY 27, 2013) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF EU COUNCIL BUILDING EU FLAGS AND IRISH PRESIDENCY BANNER OUTSIDE EU COUNCIL
  • Embargoed: 11th June 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium
  • City:
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA45XD5TG68I0ILU8RL6LEX2BC7
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  • Story Text: Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Monday (May 27) said he supports a potential lifting of Syrian arms embargo by the EU because that would grant the population 'the right of self-defence.' The European Union may end this week either helping Syrian rebels or the Damascus government they detest, depending on how EU ministers resolve differences over a package of sanctions on Syria that is about to lapse.
    "It is high time today to support these demands in Syria and it is high time today to prevent the massacres committed by the Syrian regime on the ground," he told a news conference in Brussels.
    The debate over the arms embargo has gained urgency because of recent military gains by President Bashar al-Assad's troops against rebels whose political goal in ending the Assad dynasty's authoritarian rule the 27-nation European Union has endorsed diplomatically.
    "I definitely support the lifting of arms embargo against Syrian people because this is the right of self-defence. We are talking about people who have been attacked in the last two years buy heavy arms, by airplanes, by scud missiles, by chemical weapons. If we do not prevent through UN Security Council at least we need to support their right of self-defence," Davutoglu said.
    Also on Monday, divided EU foreign ministers met in Brussels to try to reach an agreement on the arms embargo.
    Britain and France say they have no immediate plan to arm the rebels but argue that easing the EU embargo would strengthen the hand of the West and the opposition in the negotiations.
    Austria has warned that it could stop patrolling the U.N. ceasefire line on the Golan Heights between Israel and Syria if the EU arms embargo were lifted; Vienna says that the EU would be putting its troops at risk by making the European Union a military ally of one side in Syria's civil war.
    While the rebels are receiving arms from Arab states through Jordan and Turkey, Western powers are concerned that Islamist militants fighting Assad could also use such weapons against them. The United States has also held back from supplying arms.
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