Turkish FM Calls for Action Not Words on Syria
An international action plan is needed to stop the "human tragedy" in Syria, Turkey's foreign minister said Thursday after a U.N. Security Council statement calling for all sides to end violence.
"In addition to a common message we also have to develop a joint plan of action," Ahmet Davutoglu said after talks in Vienna with his Austrian counterpart ahead of an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels that he will attend.
"We continue to think that Syria is playing for time and we must do something to stop this violence. In order for this human tragedy to end we must act together," Davutoglu said, according to a translation of his comments.
"Just making calls is not enough," he told a news conference.
On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council demanded that Syria immediately implement a peace plan by special envoy Kofi Annan, calling on President Bashar Assad to work toward a cessation of hostilities and a democratic transition.
U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said he hoped Wednesday's rare show of unity by the 15-member council -- including Russia and China -- would mark a "turning point" in the crisis, in which the U.N. says more than 8,000 people have been killed.
Annan's plan calls for Assad to pull troops and heavy weapons out of protest cities, a daily two-hour humanitarian pause to hostilities, access to all areas affected by the fighting, and a U.N.-supervised halt to all clashes.
Syria's main opposition group on Thursday criticized the U.N. statement as offering "the regime the opportunity to push ahead with its repression in order to crush the revolt by the Syrian people."
Source: Agence France Presse
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