First announcement from the Palace on the Syria strike

The US, UK and France conducted a joint airstrike on Syria. Targeted in the operation were Damascus, Hama, Homs, Daraa and Suwayda.

Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın made the following announcement about the strike:

“The use of chemical weapons is a violation of international law and a crime against humanity. It is inconceivable for the Syrian regime, which has been ascertained to have staged the 7 April chemical attack in Douma, to go unanswered. Those responsible for this vile attack must be held to account. We call on the international community to unite in preventing chemical attacks that may occur in the future.”

“A wide-ranging political strategy that will end the deaths”

“On the other hand, as his excellency our President has stated with insistence, the threat posed by chemical weapons does not alter the fact that hundreds of thousands of people in Syria have been killed with conventional weapons. So, efforts directed at destroying chemical weapons alone will remain inadequate to end the instability in the region. The goal must be to end the war in Syria. Preventing all the slaughter conducted with conventional and chemical weapons is dependent on attaining a political solution in Syria without delay. As such, we invite the international community to bring to life a wide-ranging political strategy that will end the deaths brought about with all chemical and conventional weapons.”