NOVANEWS
Zionist Turkish PM’s comments come after Syrian president said he was a liar ‘responsible for the blood of tens of thousands of Syrians’
Times of Israel
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan leveled scathing criticism at Syrian President Bashar Assad, calling him a terrorist who is no longer a politician.
“I don’t regard Bashar Assad as a politician anymore. He’s a terrorist carrying out state terrorism. A person who killed 110,000 of his people is a terrorist. There’s state terrorism — I’m speaking frankly,” Erdogan said at a press conference Sunday after a meeting with India’s president, Hurriyet reported. “I’m having difficulty understanding those in the Turkish media who defend this.”
Erdogan has been one of Assad’s harshest critics since Syria’s uprising erupted in March 2011. On Monday he also denounced US Secretary of State John Kerry for praising Syria’s compliance with the international community in relinquishing its chemical weapons.
“You are a human being and me, too,” said Erdogan. “How can we appreciate the behavior of a person who killed 110,000 people, I ask you. The result of either chemical or other types of weapons is death. Then how can we appreciate this? I cannot imagine a person who appreciates this. I don’t think Mr. Kerry made such a statement. If he made it, he would be contradicting himself.”
Erdogan’s comments came only days after his country was harshly criticized by Assad.
In an interview with Turkey’s private Halk TV last Thursday, the Syrian president warned that Ankara would pay “a high price” for allowing foreign fighters to enter Syria from its territory and join rebel forces. Assad also called Erdogan a liar, and accused him of supporting terrorists.
Assad made no mention of his government’s role in the civil war that has killed at least 100,000 people so far, instead blaming foreign fighters and governments, including Turkey’s, for the bloodshed.
“This government, represented by Erdogan, is responsible for the blood of tens of thousands of Syrians, and is responsible for the destruction of Syria’s infrastructure,” Assad said. It is also “responsible for endangering security of the region, not only Syria.”
“You cannot hide terrorists in your pocket. They are like a scorpion, which will eventually sting you,” Assad added, saying Muslim extremists from more than 80 countries are coming to Syria by sneaking across the border with Turkey.
Erdogan has long advocated the removal of Assad from power.
On August 31, the Turkish leader said a limited military response to the reported use of chemical weapons by Assad’s regime was not enough, and any kind of intervention should aim to topple him.
“It can’t be a 24 hours hit-and-run,” Erdogan told reporters at the presidential palace in Ankara. “What matters is stopping the bloodshed in Syria and weakening the regime to the point where it gives up.”
There are currently some 500,000 Syrian refugees living in Turkey.
Erdogan, a former ally of the Syrian president, turned against him several months after the Syrian conflict began in March 2011
