EU arms embargo on Syrian rebels skews conflict: Turkish FM Davutoğlu

LONDON - Reuters

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu makes a speach at London School of Economics on March 7. Davutoğlu stressed that Syrian rebel were inadequately armed during his visit to Britain and stopped just short of calling for a EU arms embargo to be lifted. AA photo

Turkey said on March 8 anti-government fighters in Syria were at a disadvantage because they weren't properly armed, and stopped just short of calling for a European Union arms embargo to be lifted.

In some of his strongest comments on the subject so far, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said he had discussed the embargo barring delivery of all arms to Syria with Britain and Germany.

"If there was international support ... or a common stance against certain war crimes, I don't think there would be a need for arming the rebels," Davutoğlu told reporters during a visit to Britain, saying he thought such pressure would topple Assad.

But the minister said he had discussed the status of the embargo with British Foreign Secretary William Hague as well as with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who has publicly defended the embargo. 

When asked to say if he favoured lifting the embargo, Davutoğlu said: "If one side only has weapons at the end of the day the side which has weapons in their hands have all the opportunities to kill the other side."

Likening the Syrian conflict to the 1992-95 Bosnian war, he suggested the world should not repeat the same mistakes it made then. 

"In Bosnia they were looking for weapons from anyone to defend their homes. Now the same thing is happening in Syria," he said. "For three years, we have the green light to Milosevic, Mladic and Karadzic to continue killing people."

An EU embargo prevents weapons being supplied to Syria's rebels, but sanctions have been amended in recent weeks to allow more non-lethal equipment, prompting Britain to expand the scale and scope of its aid to the Syrian opposition. 

Al-Assad 'just like Ceaucescu'

One of the issues which has made many countries wary of lifting the embargo is the presence of Islamist fighters among the Syrian opposition and a perception that radical Islamist influence is on the rise within their ranks.

But Davutoğlu played down those fears, saying neither Libya nor Egypt had embraced radical Islam despite predictions to the contrary.

"They are at war," he said of the Syrian anti-government fighters. "They are going to die. There are always religious slogans in war." 

Comparing Assad to late Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu, Davutoğlu made it clear his country's patience was wearing thin.

"We are feeling the heat every day, it's not a question of long-term planning," he said, adding there was a need for "urgent action".

Providing for the needs of Syrian refugees had cost around $600 million so far, an amount Ankara had not expected, and Turkey still had no idea how much longer the situation would continue. 

"People are suffering on the ground and Turkey is paying the bill," he added.