Erdogan: U.S. elections hampering Syria action

Christiane Amanpour, one of CNN's and the United States' most experienced correspondents, has made an interview with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul this week. Erdogan who accused the U.S of not taking leading role in Syrian crisis said the biggest danger, not only for Turkey but for the entire region and the world was the employment of weapons of mass destruction and chemical ones. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the United States was "lacking of initiative" on Syria and suggested that could be because of the upcoming U.S. election. During a wide-ranging interview, Erdogan discussed the 18-month crisis in Syria and touched on a number of other topics, including Iran's suspected nuclear program. "Right now, there are certain things being expected from the United States. The United States had not yet catered to those expectations," the prime minister said when asked whether he was surprised the United States was not offering anything but "nonlethal support" to the opposition. "Maybe it's because of the elections - maybe it's because of the pre-election situation in the States. Might be the root cause of the lacking of initiative. Nobody has spoken to us about their reasons, and they are not obliged to state anything. We are very thankful and pleased they have stated that they're against this regime," he said. When asked what he thought the biggest danger to Turkey was, Erdogan spoke about weapons of mass destruction. "Well, the biggest danger, not only for Turkey but for the entire region and the world is ... the employment of weapons of mass destruction and chemical ones, of course. If a slightest suggestion of such an attempt should emerge, not only in Turkey, but the attitude of the entire globe is going to change forever," he said. About Iran's suspected nuclear program, Erdogan said he did not believe Israel would launch a full-scale attack. "I do not believe Israel will attack Iran. It's a very null probability. Otherwise would have caused an apocalypse in the entire region," Erdogan said. "But I'm sure that I don't want to see anything like that happening in the region because in this day and age, that region needs peace and prosperity and stability."