FM travels to Washington

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who is getting ready for a new initiative on crisis in Syria, has initiated his talks by meeting with members of the Congress in Washington. In the wake of his talks at the Congress, Davutoglu will deliver a speech at George Washington University and meet with the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and President Barack Obama's National Security Advisor Thomas Donillon on Monday. Before flying to the United States, Davutoğlu said in a press conference that vetoing of a draft on Syria in the UN Security Council has brought the UN system to a deadlock, and thus they needed to establish new platforms.  Stating that if the UN did not reconsider the topic, a forum should be held in Turkey or another country in the region, Davutoglu highlighted the significance of taking a joint decision in such a forum. Davutoglu said that they would put an international initiative into action with the Arab League, which is to convene today. "We are determined on the issue. We cannot stand by this bloodshed in anyway. It is necessary that both our people and brothers in Syria and international community should be aware of this," Davutoglu said. Speaking about release of 11 Iranians in Syria, Davutoglu said that his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi had requested help both on the telephone and through a written message, and thus they were able to bring Iranians into Turkey by using certain channels within Syria.