Turkey’s prime minister announced Tuesday a new initiative with regional players to halt the violence in Syria, saying the veto of a UN resolution had given President Bashar al-Assad a “licence to kill”. Speaking in the Turkish parliament, Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced Russia and China’s torpedoing at the weekend of a resolution backed by the West and the Arab League as a “fiasco” and said Assad had reached the end of the line. “We will start a new initiative with those countries who stand by the Syrian people, not the regime,” he said. “We are working on this initiative, Erdogan told lawmakers, adding that his government would use all diplomatic means to draw the world’s attention to the Syrian crisis. “We cannot remain silent on what is happening in Syria and we cannot turn our backs on the Syrian people,” Erdogan said. Russia and China, permanent members of the Security Council, on Saturday blocked a resolution denouncing Syria for its deadly crackdown on protests.
The move drew widespread condemnation, with the US describing it as a “travesty”. Erdogan, once a close friend and ally of Assad, said that the outcome had placed a “licence to kill in the hands of the tyrant”. “The process that unfolded at the United Nations is a fiasco for the civilised world,” said Erdogan. The veto power should be used responsibly without “giving the green light to death”, the prime minister added.
UNICEF says 400 children killed in Syrian unrest
At least 400 children have been killed in 11 months of violence in Syria and almost the same number detained, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday. “As of the end of January, 400 children are dead and more than 400 have been detained,” UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado said at a briefing. “There are reports of children arbitrarily arrested, tortured and sexually abused while in detention,” the agency added in a statement. Mercado said the figures for children killed came from Syrian human rights groups “that we find to be credible.”
