Turkish Foreign Minister: We are Monitoring Syria Very Closely

Turkey has expressed great concern over Syria’s deployment of troops and tanks near the border and says it is closely monitoring the operations

Syrian refugees demonstrate after Friday prayers at a refugee camp in the Turkish border town of Boynuyoğun in Hatay. Reuters photoTurkey is greatly concerned by Syria’s military maneuvers within a stone’s throw of the country’s southern border, as well as its rebuke of Ankara’s call for reform in the turmoil-hit Arab republic, according to officials.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu criticized the military action next to the border, which caused many Syrians to flee across the Turkish border in fear, a Foreign Ministry official told the Hürriyet Daily News on Friday.

Ankara is closely monitoring the operations, Davutoğlu told reporters Friday, adding that he had conveyed Turkey’s “concerns and thoughts about the situation” to his Syrian counterpart by phone the previous day.

Turkish officials lodged their concerns with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem because they were unsatisfied by Syrian claims that the troop movements, which are being conducted a few hundred meters from the frontier, were merely an operation to catch terrorists.

Davutoğlu said the Syrians escaping from the soldiers were civilians, many of whom were women and children that could not be terrorists, according to the official.

A new wave of refugees crossed into Turkey on Thursday after tanks appeared in the immediate border region, joining thousands of their compatriots who have already fled unrest for safety in southern Turkey.

Ankara held a coordination meeting with military, Foreign Ministry and intelligence officials on Thursday to evaluate the latest developments along the border. Ankara will monitor Syria’s reaction to Turkey’s concerns on the maneuvers in the upcoming days, the official told the Daily News.

Maneuvers to end within a week

A former Syrian intelligence official told the Daily News on condition of anonymity that the maneuvers near the border were not a show of force and that the troops would be pulled back within a week.

“We have never thought of any show of force and it is not a situation that exists only at the Turkish border, we sent troops to almost all our borders since the turmoil occurred near the borders as they give easy access to terrorists from abroad,” he said.

Syria sent more troops to Turkey than other borders because “the riots were more acute and lasted longer” there, he said.
“Now we are gaining control of the area near the Turkish border,” he said, adding that as people begin to return to their villages, the troops will prepare to leave within the week.

He also said Syria had been offended by Turkey’s continual insistence on the need for reforms in Syria. “Turkey openly exerts pressure on us over the reforms. Turkey is a friendly country, but it cannot give us advice about our domestic policy. It makes us angry.”

Growing diplomatic tension

Responding harshly Wednesday to sanctions issued against Syria by the European Union, Muallem also indirectly criticized Turkey, urging Ankara to reconsider its frosty response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s recent speech and adding that Syria wanted the “best relations with Turkey.”

Once a close ally but now an increasingly vocal critic of Assad, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently accused Damascus of perpetrating an “atrocity” against demonstrators, Ankara’s harshest criticism yet of a series of deadly assaults on anti-regime protests that began in March.

Speaking to Muallem on Thursday, Davutoğlu asked for an “explanation of his remarks,” the Turkish official said. Muallem responded that he wanted to correct “a misunderstanding” in his remarks and added that he “just wanted to underline the importance of bilateral relations,” the diplomat said.

Asked if there was tension between Ankara and Damascus, Davutoğlu said: “Turkey has been monitoring the developments closely from the very beginning. There are people belonging to the same families along the border. Besides the humanitarian dimensions, the issue also has political and international dimensions.”

Noting that relations between Turkey and Syria had improved greatly in the past 10 years, Davutoğlu said Turkey had also exerted great efforts to see reforms in the country.

“Contact with Syria has never been interrupted. Turkey has been pursuing a principled policy on the issue. We also closely followed the speech of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. There are affirmative elements in the speech suggesting signs of reform. However, the implementation of them with concrete steps is important,” he said.

June 24, 2011
SOURCE: TURKISH DAILY NEWS