Russia Rescues Turkey From Syrian Chemical Threat
The accord to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons has marginalized Ankara’s Syria policy while removing the threat against Turkey.
![Russia's President Putin and Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan applaud during a signing ceremony in Istanbul Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) and Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (2nd R), with Foreign Ministers Sergei Lavrov of Russia (2nd L) and Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey (R) in the background, applaud during a signing ceremony in Istanbul December 3, 2012. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3B64Z](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2013/09/RussiaTurkey.jpg/RussiaTurkey.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=PAdeRnXk)
Ankara is not satisfied with the US-Russia accord formulated to eliminate the Syrian Baath regime's chemical weapons. Ankara’s disappointment with the accord — reached on Sept. 14 in Geneva between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his US counterpart John Kerry — was expressed in a statement made by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu that same day.
"Massacres in Syria must be stopped immediately. Those responsible for the chemical weapons attack must be punished. … Of course elimination of chemical weapons in any country is a positive development. We will all be happy with that, but this should not be interpreted as allowing massacres of people without a chemical attack and should not open the way to ignore the responsibilities of those who massacred 100,000 people until now," said Davutoglu.