WASHINGTON
Turkish FM Davutoglu on Thursday spoke to PBS channel on the occasion of the attending United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York.
Replying Margaret Warner's questions on live program, Davutoglu said that Turkey was quite frustrated with the United Nations for several reasons.
"One is from a humanitarian perspective. Now, we have around 90,000 Syrian refugees in our camps and around 40,000 refugees in several cities. It's a humanitarian tragedy. In fact, it is a test for the U.N. now and it is a test for all the international community. And until now, it's a huge failure that U.N. Security Council, especially P-5, didn't agree on any resolution regarding to the Syrian crisis. Forget the political aspect. Even on humanitarian ground, that's quite a frustration for Turkey and other neighboring countries who are paying the price" Davutoglu said.
A question regarding what the international community should do in terms of humanitarian crisis, "First of all, there should be a clear signal and very decisive message to Syrian regime that their policy is not acceptable and there will be certain measures if they continue. What is their policy of security attacking cities, urban areas by air force, by artillery, by tanks? Even during war, it is a crime to attack an urban area indiscriminately by air bombardment or artillery shells. And until now, there is not such a clear message from United Nations that Syrian regime must stop this atrocity against civilian people. At least this is a must to be done," he said.
"As a neighbor, we have been doing and we will continue to be doing our best to help Syrian brothers and sisters and Syrian people who are escaping to Turkey looking for a safe haven and for food and medicine. That is our responsibility as a neighbor. And Turkey's paying not only for the refugees. What we have paid out now is 300 million U.S. dollars, which is a huge amount. And this cost is increasing every day. We are not complaining about this. This is our ethical and human responsibility to our brothers and sisters in Syria. But for other steps, there should be a better coordination among the international actors," Davutoglu said over a question on broader action Turkey wanted to see than simply helping Turkey take care of the refugees.
For a question of who does he blame for the inaction by the Security Council, "I don't want to give any name, but you know how U.N. Security Council failed until now in the last 18 months to produce any resolution," said Turkish FM.
Davutoglu also mention China and Russia countries. "Russia and China blocked some -- two, even three resolutions in the past," he said.
"Of course United States and other P-5 countries should be more decisive, more having one voice and a clear message. Even if the U.N. Security Council is not able to find a consensus, there are other things to be done as an international community," said Davutoglu over a question United Nations could be doing more.
Davutoglu said that the conflict in Syria also a security threat to Turkey.
"It is a huge security threat. Why? Because we have 911-kilometer border, and now there is a power vacuum on this border. Power vacuum, and the immediate security issue is some terrorist group may try to use this power vacuum for their own interests to create instability -- PKK and even some al-Qaida. Even today, several terrorist activities inside Turkey, PKK terrorist activities, are being -- they are using this power vacuum. For some -- these terrorist groups, they are using this type of power vacuum for their own interests," Davutoglu said.
Replying Margaret Warner's questions on live program, Davutoglu said that Iran openly was saying that they were supporting the Syrian regime. "Of course we are not supporting. If today, Syria -- when we look at the Syrian regime's confidence, they have two sources, I can say. One is inability of U.N. Security Council to produce a resolution. And there, I see the Cold War logic functioning, unfortunately. The second is some support from the region and the main support is coming from Iran. That's not a secret. And we are talking with Iran and with other important regional countries that it will not be in the interest of any country if there is an instability in Syria," said Davutoglu.
Reminding Davutoglu Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's quot in The Washington Post as saying that Turkey would not act unilaterally in any military sense, "Prime Minister Erdogan meant the political crisis inside Syria. But if there is any security risk against Turkey on our border, it is our right to defend our border. And it is our right -- if there's any terrorist threat attacking Turkey or creating risk, that is our right to make any -- to take any measures," said Davutoglu.
"If there's any discussion on safe haven or some zone, secure zone, there should be -- it should be supported by a U.N. Security Council resolution or by international community," said Davutoglu over a question on safe haven.
A question that if the UN would not act, would Turkey ever join a coalition of the willing, perhaps NATO and Arab-led, "Of course, in Libya, there was a U.N. resolution which created the base for this coalition of willing. But if U.N. cannot do anything, all the other options and measures should be on the table. And those countries who will have concerns and common interests should study all these options," said Davutoglu.
Davutoglu also said that Turkey would be in all process -- processes related to Syria.
"There is such a risk not only in Syria, but in the region. Why? Because this inability of U.N. resulted in 300,000 casualties and 100,000 rape cases in Bosnia. For three years, the U.N. was idle. And I talked to His Excellency Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon yesterday. He went to Srebrenica this year and apologized because of the inability of United Nations in the 1990s.
I am afraid that, maybe after 20 years, another U.N. secretary- general will have to go to Syria and apologize from the Syrian people that, because of this inactivity, this idleness of international community. Therefore, we must act together," said Davutoglu over a question what if there is an action taken on Syria and the conflict continues to grind on, what danger does he see of it sparking.
