Turkish leader defines Syrian crisis as humanitarian issue

ANKARAㅡ Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said the crisis in Syria is not an outcome of sectarian clashes between Alawites and Sunnis, but a result of the government’s response to the Syrian people’s humanitarian demands.

Speaking at his Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday, Erdoğan drew attention to sectarian clashes that occurred in Syria’s southern neighbor, Lebanon, and said this is an unfortunate situation. He added that the crisis in Syria is not sectarian, but purely the result of the government’s reaction to Syrians’ demands.

“Those who consider the troubles in Syria a sectarian fight certainly fail at humanity. We always stand on the side of justice and oppose oppressors. We never look at the ethnic background or sect of the oppressed ones,” Erdoğan said.

The Turkish prime minister later slammed main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for keeping quiet on the Syrian crisis and for seemingly supporting President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Erdoğan called on Kılıçdaroğlu to openly express his views on Syria.

Moreover, Erdoğan criticized the CHP for isolating the country in the past, and added: “In our nine-and-a-half years [in power], we have visited all the countries in the world. We have visited the countries that the CHP turned away from, saying, ‘They’re Arabs’.” <Cihan>

news@theasian.asia