Turkish PM stresses Syria's territorial integrity

ISTANBUL

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday emphasized the maintenance of Syria's territorial integrity, rejecting any scenarios for partitioning the country.

"We have agreed that Syria will sustain its presence as a strong, unitary Syria. We do not want a partitioned Syria," Davutoglu told reporters ahead of his departure for Brussels, where he will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Mark Rutte, prime minister of the Netherlands, the holder of the rotating EU presidency.

Davutoglu said he discussed the issue with Iranian officials on Saturday's visit to Tehran and evoked the Sykes-Picot agreement, the 1916 secret agreement between Britain and France that established the borders of the modern Middle East, and is widely blamed for many of its current woes.

"100 years ago, Sykes-Picot partitioned the region. We should not allow again the division into small pieces. We must enter into efforts that could unite the region on a large scale. Here, there are contributions Iran and Turkey can make," the prime minister said.

In his remarks, Davutoglu called for a political structure in post-Assad Syria "where every national is represented and no one is excluded".

"As this was not done in Iraq, we can all see that peace and serenity in Iraq have not been maintained".

Syria has remained locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity. Since then, more than 250,000 people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN figures.

- Lifting of HDP deputies' immunity

Davutoglu also commented on the drive to lift the immunity of the co-chairs of the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), along with four other party deputies.

Stating that the issue concerns both politicians and society, Davutoglu said HDP members’ remarks praising terrorism and visits to terrorists' funerals had deeply offended the nation’s conscience.

"We cannot ignore that. Immunity is the freedom of politicians who use the parliament lectern within freedom of expression and the democratic, legal state rules," Davutoglu said.

On Friday, a summary of proceedings on HDP Co-Chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag and party deputies Selma Irmak, Sirri Sureyya Onder, and Ertugrul Kurkcu was submitted to the Prime Ministry to be sent to parliament, which then would vote on lifting the immunity.

On Saturday, another summary of proceedings was prepared for HDP Van Deputy Tugba Hezer, who attended the funeral of Abdulbaki Somer, the Ankara suicide bomber who last month killed 29 people.

The first five deputies are accused of “inciting hatred and hostility” and “membership in an armed terrorist organization” for remarks during a meeting last December in Diyarbakir, while Hezer is accused of “spreading terrorist organization propaganda” and “praising crime and criminals”.