Turkey's foreign minister says Al-Assad trial is inevitable

Turkey’s foreign minister has said that it is now “inevitable” that Syria’s President Bashar Al-Assad will face trial at the International Criminal Court for war crimes. Ahmet Davutoglu pointed out that if criminals are not held accountable by the international community for their wrongdoings, there would be no need for the global system. “Just as everyone should be held responsible for their actions internally they should also be held accountable for their actions in front of the international community,” he insisted.

Davutoglu’s remarks were made at a fringe meeting during his visit to Brussels to meet the President of the European Council with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“The UN Security Council faces a new challenge regarding the Syrian crisis,” said the foreign minister. “There is strong evidence that Al-Assad has been responsible for committing atrocities against the Syrian people that cannot be tolerated. It is no longer possible to remain silent about the events taking place there. Turkey has been trying to attract the world’s attention to the suffering of the Syrians for three years now; they are subjected to torture and murder as the recently-leaked images show clearly.”

Turkey’s Anadolu News Agency published photographs smuggled out of Syria by a dissident military policeman which, claimed Davutoglu: “They have affected the psychological well-being of everyone who has seen them and prove that we are looking not only at a crime against humanity but also a legal situation.” He explained that it is important for international investigators to examine the almost 55,000 images which document cases of torture, murder and starvation carried out by the Syrian regime against its opponents. “International investigators are the only ones to confirm the images’ reliability,” he added. “I am confident that those defending Al-Assad inside and outside Syria will have to think more carefully and review their positions over the Syrian regime. Nobody on Earth with a shred of conscience would accept what Al-Assad is doing against his own people.”

The foreign minister said that the photographs will have a significant impact on the Geneva II Conference. “I hope that they alert those who support Al-Assad diplomatically and believe that his regime can achieve stability or fulfil the demands of the people.”