Russia Helps U.S., Syria Establish Contact, Turkey in Shock
Russia Helps U.S., Syria Establish Contact, Turkey in Shock
With a little bit of help from Russia, the Americans and the Syrians have established contact with each other, sending shockwaves in Turkey, which has blamed Moscow and Beijing for the continuation of strife in Syria.
Addressing the American media on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov dropped a bombshell. He said that Moscow had helped the American experts to establish contact with the Syrians on the subject of chemical weapons. “I hope I won’t disclose any big secret, but we have helped American experts establish contact with the Syrians on this issue, and we have received explanations and assurances that the Syrian government is guarding these facilities in the best possible way,” said Mr. Lavrov, as reported by Russia Today.
He also added that Russia was not considering granting asylum to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, in case he decided to quit office.
“No, we won’t grant him asylum,” Mr. Lavrov said, pointing out that the Syrian President “was a friend of other countries northwest of Syria.”
Lebanon’s Al Manar television website quoted its Arab sources in France as confirming that the U.S. delegation at the U.N. General Assembly annual session wanted to discuss with Syria, the issue of chemical weapons. The Syrian side pledged “with a Russian guarantee” that it would not use these weapons “inside Syria during the conflict between the government and the militant opposition”. However, the Syrian delegation was emphatic in stating that in case Syria was subjected to a foreign attack, in that case countries involved in inciting and participating in that attack would be legitimate targets “for the Syrian rockets… loaded with chemical warheads, including countries neighbouring Syria”.
Coinciding with the Mr. Lavrov’s announcement of opening a U.S.-Syria dialogue track on chemical weapons, Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan went uncharacteristically ballistic—blaming both Russia and China of siding with Syria. His outburst against Moscow and Beijing was aired live on NTV, a leading Turkish television station.