Gül warns against sectarian war in Muslim world

11 years ago | Posted in: Latest Politics News | 459 Views

President Abdullah Gül has warned against a sectarian war in the Muslim world, criticizing the inclusion of Iran and Hezbollah in Syria’s 26-month civil war. Gül urged the Muslim world not to use up its energy on internal clashes and described the sectarian clashes as very dangerous.

“Sectarian clashes should not take place. … Each person in the region as well as the leaders bear the responsibility for preventing these clashes. However, the Syrian authorities bear the most responsibility for preventing these clashes,” said Gül during a joint press briefing with his Tunisian counterpart, Moncef Marzouki.

Noting that the Muslim people should learn lessons from the sectarian disputes of the past, such as the Iran-Iraq War, Gül called on the leaders of Muslim countries to respond to the legitimate demands of their people. “No one should act in narrow-minded way. All Muslim countries should respond to the legitimate demands of their people. No leader can be proud of himself or hold his head high when his own people are oppressed and ruled by a single-party system,” Gül explained.

The Turkish president also welcomed a move by the European Union to decide to lift an arms embargo on the Syrian opposition while maintaining all sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime as of June 1.

“It will be understood that people cannot be oppressed by weapons and armed forces. Therefore, we welcome the move by the international community to protect and support the opposition,” said Gül.

According to the decision, EU member states will soon be able to send weapons to help Syria’s opposition, seeking to pressure Assad’s regime ahead of planned peace talks mediated by the United States and Russia in Geneva. The prospect of EU weapons being sent to the rebels while stiff economic sanctions are maintained against Assad’s regime will also serve as a message to Russia, which has unabashedly sent weapons to Assad’s regime. Several EU ministers said that arming the opposition will create a more level playing field that could force Assad into a negotiated settlement.

The Tunisian president, for his part, said he supports the unification of the Syrian opposition as well as the Geneva peace conference. However, Marzouki also voiced his displeasure over young Tunisian people joining the ranks of the opposition in war-torn Syria in an effort to topple Assad’s regime.

“Some of our deceived young people are going to Syria to fight there. They are being trained there. They are being dragged [into] a civil war. We don’t approve of [this situation],” said Marzouki, added: “We will support a political solution in Syria and the unification of the opposition. We hope that the Geneva II [conference] will bring a solution [to the crisis].”

The two leaders also discussed bilateral relations, which have improved further since Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution in 2010 that began with peaceful demonstrations in December of 2010 and led to the ousting of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January of 2011.

Noting that the two countries share the same values, Marzouki said Turkey and Tunisia are “part of the Muslim civilization.” The Tunisian leader said their utmost aim is to have a democratic, transparent country while at the same time protecting their cultural characteristics.

“We will continue to follow the same path with Turkey [to democracy]. We want to make use of Turkey’s experiences to reach our goals,” he added.

Upon the invitation of President Abdullah Gül, the Tunisian president is on a two-day visit to Turkey that started on Tuesday to meet with senior Turkish officials. Marzouki is scheduled to address the Turkish Parliament on Wednesday.

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