PM Erdogan accuses Assad of not being honest

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of not being honest, noting that days dominated by peace will hopefully come to Syria soon. "When there is mass killing in Syria, Bashar al-Assad refers to foreign sources as the cause of the incident. Bashar al-Assad has never engaged in politics in his country until now. The latest elections allegedly put the cards on the table. These are not election results, as a matter of fact. As the elections were not fair, no one was interested in participation and election results, as the results disclose Assad's interests," Erdogan said while answering questions from reporters in Sanlıurfa province. Commenting on Assad's speech made on Saturday at the Syrian Parliament, Erdogan noted talks about reform Turkey had with Syria. "Assad told us that he would implement the reforms; however, I have yet to see any of those democratic reforms. He still insists on looking at the issues with his autocratic mind," Erdogan said, adding that bringing about peace in Syria would be difficult under such circumstances. Nevertheless, the prime minister expressed his hope that the days of peace would soon come to Syria. Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced that the escalating human rights violations in Syria are only being perpetrated by the ruling Baath regime, noting that the violence in the country must be stopped by all parties involved. Understanding that international observers cannot stop the violence taking place in Syria, all groups involved must do their part to put an end to it, the UN chief said on Saturday while talking to members of the press during a roundtable meeting. Ban Ki-moon has been in Istanbul since May to attend the conferences of the Partners Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and the 2nd International Somalia Conference that Turkey hosted on May 31-June 1. Commenting on the efforts of the UN Security Council to end the Syrian crisis, Ban said that in the initial stage, there was no agreement in the UN Security Council over Syria. He added, however, that a UN observer mission sent to Syria under Resolution 2043 is a harsh criticism of the Houla massacre and an encouraging development. Last week, over 100 civilians were killed in Syria's Houla. Those killed include 49 children and 34 women, said Ahmad Fawzi, a spokesman for UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.