Foreign Minister Davutoglu: SCUDs should be banned

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the UN Security Council must immediately open corridors in Syria for humanitarian aid, declare no-flight zones and ban the firing of SCUD missiles in residential areas. Underlining the increasing military support to the Syrian regime and Turkey's disappointment deriving from the international community's attitude, Davutoglu made the following statements on his flight to Rome to attend a meeting of the Syria's Friends Group: "There is a humanitarian tragedy going on. We want the corridors to Hama, Homs, Deraa and other unreachable areas are opened under internationally guarantee and sanctions are imposed on whoever attempts to prevent that. I think that declaration of a no-flight zone is necessary, because we are witnessing war crimes there. A consensus on at least two issues at the Security Council is necessary: 1- Humanitarian aid is beyond any calculations. A resolution envisioning sanctions on whoever is preventing the corridors, whether the regime or the opposition, should be adopted. 2- Firing SCUD missiles is a crime. If the opposition does that, sanctions of the kind imposed on war criminals should be imposed on them. However, the opposition lacks the means for an air bombardment anyway. They should talk to Russia on these two issues. Otherwise, they should declare that they will take other measures -- including the military ones. When the president of the Syrian National Council declared that he would not attend the meeting in Rome, both US Secretary of State Kerry and British Foreign Secretary Hague pledged that the promises made would be fulfilled. This indeed means confessing how insufficient was the support provided so far. I can honestly say that Turkey as well is disappointed by indifference and ineffectiveness."