Russia must stop insisting on al-Assad’s leadership in Syria: Turkish FM

[TomSea]

Russia must stop insisting on al-Assad’s leadership in Syria: Turkish FM

ALANYA/ANKARA

AFP photo

Turkey remains committed to a cease-fire in Syria but Russia must stop insisting that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should remain as the leader of the country, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said April 9.

Speaking to local media, Çavuşoğlu said he told his Russian counterpart that Moscow had not taken the necessary steps in the face of breaches of the Syrian cease-fire.

Çavuşoğlu had a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, late on April 7 and discussed the recent chemical attack on civilians in Syria’s Idlib province.

Çavuşoğlu said he told Lavrov that Moscow had not taken necessary steps against the truce violations as a guarantor of the cease-fire in Syria and that the regime had ultimately used chemical weapons. Turkey is loyal to the process to maintain a cease-fire, but Ankara cannot remain silent against the “savagery,” Çavuşoğlu said he told Russia’s foreign minister.

Continued: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/russia-must-stop-insisting-on-al-assads-leadership-in-syria-turkish-fm.aspx?pageID=238&nID=111812&NewsCatID=510