14 April 2012

PRESS RELEASE REGARDING THE UNSC RESOLUTION 2042 ON SYRIA

BY THE TURKISH MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

We welcome the Resolution 2042 on Syria adopted today (14 April) by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

This resolution constitutes an important message as the UN Security Council finally addresses  to the situation in Syria with single voice. We consider this resolution as a step in the right direction, although it does not meet our expectations completely.

Reaffirming the support for the six-point plan of the Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States, Mr. Kofi Annan, and calls for the urgent, comprehensive, and immediate implementation of all the elements of the plan, the resolution envisages the establishment of a United Nations supervision mission  in order to monitor on the ground the implementation of the Annan Plan.

Notwithstanding the announcement by the Syrian Administration that it has fulfilled in the agreed timeline its obligations according to the Annan Plan to cease troop movements towards population centers, to cease all use of heavy weapons in such centers and to begin the pullback of military concentrations in and around population centers, it has been observed that it still continues its attacks against the civilian population and the violence against demonstrators. In such an environment, the immediate deployment on the ground of the supervision mission the establishment of which is envisaged by the UNSC resolution, albeit with a limited number of personnel, constitutes an insufficient but necessary step in order to determine to what extent the Syrian Administration is fulfilling its commitments in the framework of the Annan Plan.

Turkey, expects the full and immediate implementation of all the calls and demands put to the   the Syrian Administration   by the UNSC resolution adopted today.

In this context, Turkey together with other members of the international community, will follow whether the Syrian Administration is implementing as a whole together with  the other elements of the Annan Plan such as initiating an inclusive process of political transition aimed at a democratic and plural political system in line with the legitimate demands of the Syrian people; allowing the provision of humanitarian assistance into Syria; releasing arbitrarily detained persons; ensuring freedom of movement throughout the country for journalists and guaranteeing freedom of association and the right to demonstrate peacefully.

We emphasize, once again, on this occasion that a bright future in Syria can only be ensured through achieving a political transition process based on the equality of all Syrian citizens, aiming at a democratic and pluralistic system which  puts fundamental  rights and freedoms under constitutional guarantee; and expect, with utmost importance, the Syrian Administration to comply with the calls made by its people and the international community in this direction without further delay.