Davutoglu offers Turkish perspective on Arab Spring in UN address

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has addressed regional issues and offered his views on Turkey's take on the social movements of the Arab Spring at a UN conference in Lebanon, where he stayed over the weekend to exchange views with the UN chief as well as domestic politicians and political and religious leaders in Lebanon. Davutoglu delivered a speech on his country's perspective regarding the sociological developments in the Middle Eastern and North African region, popularly dubbed the Arab Spring, at a UN conference titled "Reform and Transitions to Democracy," organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the Anatolia news agency reported on Sunday. Davutoglu also met UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the sidelines of the conference to discuss regional issues, with Syria being the major issue of the meeting, UN sources informed the press. In the meeting between Davutoglu and Ban, the crisis in Syria was mentioned as "a source of grave concern" for both parties, as Ban told Davutoglu that the Syrian case was moving in a direction that was becoming increasingly dangerous, Anatolia reported. They also discussed the Cyprus issue as negotiation talks between Turkish and Greek communities of the Cypriot island are set to resume at a UN meeting next weekend in the hope to sew the final stitches of a reunification deal. Speaking to reporters in Beirut, Davutoglu offered his views on an amnesty issued in Syria, but dismissed the measure as "an old move with many precedents in history," the Cihan news agency reported on Sunday. "Emergency rule was abandoned in Syria last April, which also coincided with my visit to Syria, but a more repressive rule replaced it in the aftermath," Davutoglu said, disillusioned by attempts at democratic reform in Syria. "If this [amnesty] is applied sincerely, we will evaluate it accordingly, but our experience says such great pledges usually go unfulfilled," he added, while at the same time hinting that the move might be a strategy "to gain more time." During his stay in Lebanon, Davutoglu also held a meeting with Lebanon-based Hezbollah's parliamentary group chairperson Mohammad Raad on Saturday, as developments in Syria dominated the leaders' gathering. Davutoglu stressed again that a clash among sects should be avoided vehemently and that everybody should seek an end to the bloodshed in Syria. The Turkish minister also met Christian Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Saturday on a first time high-level visit to a Maronite patriarch from Turkey, Anatolia reported. Davutoglu was also scheduled to meet Lebanese civil society organizations and domestic party leaders and politicians on Sunday before leaving for Turkey.