Off the wire
• Basque separatist group ETA gives French police details of arms caches  • Roundup: Iran slams recent U.S. missile attack on Syria  • 2 new H7N9 cases reported in central China  • Boosting economy in N. Africa to tackle root cause of migration: Maltese FinMin  • 3 killed in bus accident in N China  • China releases 500 rare sturgeon bred in captivity  • 19 held over fatal construction site accident in China  • Spotlight: Will strike on Syria contribute to rapprochement between Turkey, U.S.?  • Spanish cities beef up security ahead of Easter celebrations  • Roundup: Xi, Trump set constructive tone for China-U.S. relationship: FM  
You are here: 　 Home

Political solution needed after U.S. missile strike on Syria: Turkish FM

Xinhua, April 8, 2017 Adjust font size:

Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday that political solution is an ideal solution to restore order in Syria, according to state-run Anadolu Agency.

"The ideal solution is a political solution, and we need to implement a transitional government in Syria as soon as possible," Cavusoglu said in a speech in the Mediterranean city of Antalya.

If the effort stays with just one air base, and if Assad government will not be removed from Syria, the U.S. missile strike could amount to nothing but a merely "cosmetic" intervention, he added.

Cavusoglu also called for establishing safe zones in Syria. He has discussed this issue with his U.S. counterpart Rex Tillerson last week in Ankara.

"Hopefully stability and peace will come back to Syria, and Turkey will play a major role in that," Turkey's top diplomat said. "The world, in these recent events, began to understand what we meant by calling for safe zones."

Cavusoglu's remarks came after the U.S. early Friday fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian military air base, which American officials believe has carried out the deadly suspected chemical attack on Idlib. Endit