Ankara on alert over escalating tension in Syria

Monday, April 25, 2011

Turkey is alarmed at the escalating tension in neighboring Syria, where security forces’ deadly crackdowns on protesters threaten to trigger a flood of refugees across the border, Turkish officials have said.

“Syria is the top priority for us,” a senior Turkish Foreign Ministry official told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Monday. “We have already taken measures considering all sorts of scenarios, including massive migration and other potential complications.”

Turkey has called its ambassador to Damascus, Ömür Önhon, to Ankara for routine consultations, sources said, adding that Önhon has met with newly appointed Syrian Prime Minister Adel Safar and he will brief Ankara about those discussions.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu briefed Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan about the developments in Syria on Monday. The Syria issue is also expected to top the Turkish Cabinet meeting Tuesday, while developments will be further assessed Thursday at a routine National Security Council, or MGK, with the participation of military and civilian authorities.

Turkey released its last official statement on the matter late Saturday, calling on the Syrian regime to stop the killings of demonstrators as the death toll neared 350 since the beginning of popular revolts last week. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s reluctance to heed Turkey’s calls to heed the demands of his people has diminished Ankara’s support for his regime.

“The reason for our relatively silent position is not to give the impression that we are backing a regime that suppresses democratic protests,” an official said, adding that the continuation of the reform process was still Turkey’s expectation from Damascus.

“But those reforms cannot be performed while people’s demands are responded to violently,” the official said.

Erdoğan already urged al-Assad at a meeting in February to urgently implement reforms if he does not want to see his reign ended. “But he did not listen to us then. He delayed many reforms, which caused today’s situation,” the Foreign Ministry source said. “If he had acted adequately at that time, perhaps he would not be at this point now.”

Syria, not Libya

Underscoring that Turkey shares an 877-kilometer border with Syria and has close economic, cultural and historical ties with the country, Foreign Ministry officials dismissed analogies between the situations in Libya and Syria.

“Syria has critical importance for us. Turmoil in Syria could spark intersecting clashes and regional instability through exporting the tension to neighboring countries like Lebanon,” an official said.

Noting that an international campaign to impose sanctions against al-Assad’s regime has already been launched, Turkish officials warned that such moves will not be helpful at the moment.

“The mistakes committed during the first days of Libyan crisis should not be repeated,” an official said. “This effort allowed some countries to change the regime in Libya, something the United Nations resolutions did not impose.”

Northern border quiet

Despite the growing tension in southern Syria, Turkish officials said they have been observing silence in northern Syria, where the majority of the population is of Turkish or Kurdish descent.

An official from the Customs Directorate said measures have been prepared but not implemented because they are not needed for the time being. Mayors of Turkish cities on the Syrian border have also taken some steps to deal with a massive potential influx of refugees.

“The only thing we see is that there is a growing concern on this side of the border as many of our people have relatives in Syria,” one official said.

Turkey and Syria abolished visa requirements last year in a move to boost economic and trade ties.

Source: Hürriyet.
Link: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=ankara-on-alert-for-syria-2011-04-25.