Erdogan Says Syria Dragging Turkey Down 'Vile Path', Davutoglu Slams World 'Silence'
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan charged Sunday that Syria was dragging his country down a "vile path" with attacks such as the twin car bombings in the town of Reyhanli, near the Syrian border, that claimed 46 lives.
"They want to drag us down a vile path," Erdogan said at a rally in Istanbul, urging Turks to be "vigilant... and level-headed in the face of each provocation aimed at drawing Turkey into the Syrian quagmire."
Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi denied Turkey's accusations on Sunday, saying "Syria did not commit and would never commit such an act, not because we don't have the capacity, but because our values would not allow that."
"It is Erdogan who should be asked about this act... He and his party bear direct responsibility," he added, describing the Turkish leader as an "assassin".
"Why this timing? Why these attacks, just days before the meeting between Erdogan and (U.S. President Barack) Obama? Does he (Erdogan), whose country is a NATO member, want to incite the United States (into intervening in Syria) by telling him his country has been attacked?" Zohbi said.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu blamed the world's inaction on the Syrian conflict for the "barbarian act of terrorism" in Reyhanli.
"The latest attack shows how a spark transforms into a fire when the international community remains silent and the U.N. Security Council fails to act," he said during a Berlin visit.
"It's unacceptable for the Syrian and Turkish people to pay the price for this."
Saturday's twin bomb attack, which left at least 46 people dead and 100 wounded near the Syrian border, was the deadliest in Turkey in recent years.
The minister called it a breach of Turkey's "red line" and said that "it's time for the international community to display a common stance against the regime ... immediately and without delay".
He called for an "urgent, result-oriented diplomatic initiative" to find a solution to the Syrian crisis and added that "Turkey has the right to take any kind of measure" in response to the killings.
Davutoglu was meeting German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who expressed his condolences for the victims of the "barbaric act of terrorism" and pledged Germany's support for Turkey.
The Turkish minister blamed the attack on "a former Marxist organization directly connected with the regime" of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Davutoglu also said the investigation was looking at "connections between the Banias massacre ... and the latest terror attack" in Turkey.
Rights groups say at least 62 civilians were killed this month in an assault on a Sunni district of Banias, a Mediterranean city in Syria, after at least 50 people were killed in the nearby village of Bayda.
Source: Agence France Presse
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