Syrians would accept Turkish intervention, brotherhood leader says

A leader of Syria's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood said yesterday the Syrian people would accept military intervention by Turkey, rather than Western countries, to protect them from President Bashar al-Assad's security forces. Mohammad Riad Shaqfa, who lives in exile in Saudi Arabia, told a news conference in Istanbul the international community should isolate Assad's government to encourage people in their struggle to end more than four decades of Assad family rule. If Assad's government refused to halt its repression, Shaqfa said Turkish intervention would be acceptable. "If the international community procrastinates then more is required from Turkey as a neighbour to be more serious than other countries to handle this regime," Shaqfa said. "If other interventions are required, such as air protection, because of the regime's intransigence, then the people will accept Turkish intervention. They do not want  Western intervention," Shaqfa said. Shaqfa expressed admiration for the progress Turkey's democracy has made since Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AK Party) swept to power over a decade ago, and said the Muslim Brotherhood would not seek to impose a religious state in Syria if it ever joins a government. "We and our people admire the Turkish experiment. If we reach power, we will deal with everyone. We will make laws .. that focus on freedom, justice and equality. "These are all taken from principles of the Muslim religion. We will benefit from the instructions of Islam to make laws to achieve freedom, but it will not be a religious state."