No longer ‘realistic’ to exclude Assad from Syria deal: Turkey

DAVOS, Switzerland: Turkey said on Friday it was no longer “realistic” to insist on a solution to the Syria conflict without President Bashar al-Assad.

Ankara acknowledged last year that Assad is an actor in Syria but it is the first time a senior Turkish official has openly said it would be unrealistic to insist on the embattled leader’s departure for any solution.

“We have to be pragmatic, realistic. The facts on the ground have changed dramatically,” Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek told a panel on Syria at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“Turkey can no longer insist on a settlement without Assad. It is not realistic.”

Turkey, a vocal critic of Assad, has backed Syrian opposition rebels fighting for his ouster since the complex conflict began with anti-government demonstrations in March 2011.

“As far as our position on Assad is concerned, we think that the suffering of Syrian people and tragedies clearly... the blame is squarely on Assad,” Simsek said.

Turkey and Russia, which backs the Syrian regime with military support, brokered a ceasefire deal between Assad’s forces and rebel groups in late December, but violence has recently escalated across the country, particularly around the capital.

Turkey, together with Russia and Iran, are convening talks next week in the Kazakh capital of Astana to shore up a ceasefire in Syria.  At Davos, Simsek said there had to be “a beginning in Astana” to make sure the conflict stops.