Turkey to tighten grip on Syria as Annan plan fails to deliver truce

Posted on April 9, 2012 by M-BZ12
By: Abdullah Bozkurt

ANKARA, Turkey - With just hours left into what seems to be already collapsed UN brokered ceasefire deadline on April 10, the last minute diplomatic rush to avert more bloodshed in a 13-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad has gained momentum. Turkey is putting the squeeze on its southern neighbor with strong indications that Ankara is finalizing plans to set up a humanitarian corridor and possibly a buffer zone inside Syria in order to contain the burgeoning refugee crisis and border skirmishes.

As Assad’s government’s last minute conditions for the ceasefire on Sunday, which were immediately rejected by the opposition, effectively killed Annan’s plan, Turkey increased security precautions along the Syrian border. Deputy Foreign Minister Naci Koru said on Monday it seems the April 10 deadline is void and a new process will start on Tuesday. He underlined that neither Turkey nor the governments in the region expect any new developments when the deadline expires.

Syria was on the agenda of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, during his first official visit to China, on Monday. Erdoğan who signaled that Turkey would take measures after the expiry of the Tuesday deadline warned that the Syrian issue will be on top of his agenda during talks with his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao. He first stopped on Sunday in Urumqi, capital of China’s far west Xinjiang region, whose Uyghur ethnic group shares linguistic, ethnic and cultural links with Turks. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin acknowledged the country’s differences with Turkey over Syria. “Although we don’t share complete agreement, we agree that we should play a constructive role,” said Weimin.

President Abdullah Gül and Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz both signaled last week that a military option has not been ruled out in resolving the Syrian crisis. The Turkish Red Crescent announced on Friday that it was preparing to deliver humanitarian aid to Syria in the event that Turkey or the international community calls for a “humanitarian aid corridor” inside Syrian territory.

http://mar15.info/2012/04/turkey-to-tighten-grip-on-syria-as-annan-plan-fails-to-deliver-truce/

The recent border skirmish BY the forces of Assad will NOT be used as an excuse for intervention.