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ANKARA: Davutoglu Clarifies Erdogan's Syria War Remarks

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  • ANKARA: Davutoglu Clarifies Erdogan's Syria War Remarks

    DAVUTOGLU CLARIFIES ERDOGAN'S SYRIA WAR REMARKS

    Cihan News Agency, Turkey
    April 3 2014

    Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has clarified the statements of Prime
    Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who said that Syria is in a state of
    war with Turkey, noting that the situation in Syria is an extremely
    serious matter that needs to be paid attention to by Turkey.

    "Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and fled from the
    country. Turkey's borders have been violated many times. ... Turkey
    shot down a Syrian military jet three weeks ago. That is why this is
    an extremely serious matter that needs to be followed by Turkey. This
    is what our prime minister means," said Davutoğlu when asked by a
    reporter on Wednesday whether Turkey was at war with Syria.

    During his "balcony speech" on election night, Erdoğan stressed that
    Syria is in a state of war with Turkey and criticized the leaking of
    a recorded conversation concerning whether Turkey should conduct a
    military operation in Syria ahead of Sunday's elections, allegedly
    between Davutoğlu and certain government officials.

    "How can you threaten our national security? Syria is in a state of
    war with us. They are harassing our planes. They have martyred 74 of
    our brothers, and the tomb of Suleyman Şah is our land. An attack on
    it is an attack on 780,000 square kilometers. Can we remain silent
    about such a thing?" the prime minister said in his speech.

    The audio recording, which was uploaded to YouTube on March 26,
    reveals a top-secret conversation allegedly between Davutoğlu, Foreign
    Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu, National Intelligence
    Organization (MİT) head Hakan Fidan and Deputy Chief of General Staff
    Gen. Yaşar Guler.

    Davutoğlu noted that the situation in Syria has gone beyond a civil war
    and that the Syrian regime has been committing crimes against humanity.

    Davutoğlu also noted that the tomb of Suleyman Şah in Syria, the
    burial place of the grandfather of Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman
    Empire, is a Turkish territory according to the 1921 Franco-Turkish
    agreement. An article in the 1921 Franco-Turkish agreement lets
    Turkey keep guard and hoist its flag at the tomb, described as Turkish
    property, an arrangement accepted by an independent Syria.

    "That place is the territory of the Turkish Republic. Our soldiers
    there are protecting Turkey's territory. Any intervention, no matter
    for what reason and with which way, against them would be considered
    as an intervention against Turkey's territory and will be retaliated
    accordingly. Turkey is decisive and capable to protect its citizens
    and its territory," said Davutoğlu.

    An attack or harassment of the Turkish soldiers at the fenced
    compound on a strip of land jutting into the water near the village of
    Karakozak, about 25 kilometers from Turkey, may pull Turkey into a war.

    According to a report published in Cumhuriyet daily on Thursday, in
    the event of an attack on the tomb of Suleyman Şah, NATO's "common
    defense" mechanism would not come into play.

    Article 5 of NATO's founding treaty indicates that an attack on any
    one of the allies should be considered an attack on all of them and
    also calls for a collective defense. However, former United Nations
    resident representative of Turkey, Ambassador Umit Pamir, told the
    daily that NATO will not intervene if the tomb is attacked. "Legally,
    any attack on the tomb of Suleyman Shah, which is the only Turkish
    territory outside of Turkey's borders, will not put in action NATO'S
    'common defense' mechanism because Turkey had not recorded the tomb
    as Turkish territory when it became a member of NATO," said Pamir.

    Meanwhile, Turkey has recently said that its doors are "wide open"
    to the largely Armenian residents of the Kessab region of Syria,
    which is under threat from clashes between Syrian rebel forces.

    Davutoğlu noted that there was no need for an extra preparations for
    the Armenians fleeing to Turkey, adding that since the beginning of
    the Syrian war, Turkey opened its doors to all Syrians regardless of
    their ethnic, religious and sectarian differences.

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