DOHA (Reuters) – Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Sunday that Syria’s new administration must be inclusive because Syrian people would determine their own future after the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad by rebels.
Syrian rebels declared Assad’s ouster after seizing control of Damascus on Sunday, ending his family’s iron-fisted rule after more than 13 years of civil war.
In a press conference in Doha, Fidan said the Syrian people were not in a position to rebuild on their own and international actors and regional powers had to act with prudence and preserve the country’s territorial integrity.
Terrorist organisations must not be allowed to take advantage of the situation, he added.
“As of this morning, Syria has reached a stage where Syrian people will shape the future of their own country. Today there is hope,” Fidan said.
“The new (Syrian) administration must be established in an orderly manner, the principle of inclusiveness must never be compromised, there must never be a desire for revenge… It is time to unite and reconstruct the country,” he added.
Asked about the whereabouts of Assad, Fidan said he believed he was out of the country.
He said Turkey had no contact with Assad despite a call from President Tayyip Erdogan to hold normalisation talks, after years of animosity. Fidan added Ankara had reached out to Assad but all efforts had failed.
Turkey has said it did not support the rebel operation in northern Syria, and that Assad’s refusal to engage in a serious political solution had triggered his downfall.
Fidan also said that chemical weapons and related materials should be secured, and that Turkey – host to some 3 million migrants from Syria – had started work on their return.
(Reporting by Andrew Mills and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Christina Fincher)
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