TURKISH FM SAYS SYRIA COULD NOT DARE TO HARBOR TERRORISTS AGAINST TURKEY

Journal of Turkish Weekly
Dec 9 2011

ANKARA (A.A) - Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said Syria
would not think of using the terrorist PKK organization against Turkey.

Relations between Turkey and Syria came to the brink of war in 1998
when Ankara threatened military action if Damascus continued to shelter
PKK terrorists, prompting the Syrian regime to expel Abdullah Ocalan,
head of the terrorist organization.

"Turkey and Syria have past experiences on this issue. And we do not
think that Syria would have the courage to make such a mistake,"
Ahmet Davutoglu told diplomatic correspondents in a press meeting
Friday in the Turkish capital, Ankara.

Asked about protocols Turkey had signed with Armenia to normalize
relations, Davutoglu said significant progress would have been made
"if Armenia took small steps in the dispute with Azerbaijan."

"We would have seen a whole different situation in the Caucasus if
only Armenia had withdrawn forces from a few sections it occupies,"
Davutoglu said.

Speaking about relations with Iran, Davutoglu said countries could
always have disagreements on certain issues "but attempts to set
Turkey and Iran against each other would fail."