EU, Turkey Call on Assad to Step Down

Responding to Syrian President’s Speech

Syrian President Bashar Assad must step down in order to bring about a political solution to the war in his country, the EU said on Sunday. The statement followed a speech by Assad in which he said he would not negotiate with the opposition to end the Syrian uprising.

“We will look carefully if there is anything new in the speech but we maintain our position that Assad has to step aside and allow for a political transition,” said a spokesman for EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton. (Reuters, 6 January)

Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Assad had simply repeated empty promises in his speech in Damascus on Sunday, and called for a swift transition in the war-torn country.

“His remarks are just repetitions of what he's said all along. They are the same promises he made to us,” Davutoglu said. “As Assad no longer has the representative authority over the Syrian people, his words have lost persuasiveness. A transition period needs to be completed swiftly through talks with representatives of the Syrian nation.” (Reuters, 6 January)

“If it is clear now that Assad will not do anything new, then the UN Security Council must decide on a stance on the situation in Syria,” Davutoglu added.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague accused Syrian President Assad of hypocrisy.    

“Assad speech beyond hypocritical. Deaths, violence and oppression engulfing Syria are his own making, empty promises of reform fool no one,” Hague said in a message on Twitter.

Photo credit: Pictures of Syria's President Bashar Assad and Syrian flags burning. Aleppo, December 2012. (Reuters)