Erdogan reiterates Syrian future without Assad

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday reiterated that there is no place for Bashar al-Assad in the future of Syria.

“It is absolutely impossible to move ahead with Assad in Syria. For what? How could we embrace the future with the president of a Syria who killed close to 1 million of its citizens?" said Erdogan.

His remarks came at a joint news conference in the Tunisian capital Tunis following a closed-door meeting with his Tunisian counterpart Beji Caid Essebsi.

"Would the people of Syria want to see such a person as leader? Because I am saying this absolutely clearly and openly that Assad is actually a terrorist involved in state terrorism,” Erdogan added.

Erdogan asserted that peace will not come to Syria with Bashar al-Assad as its president.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN officials.

Erdogan also spoke about the the U.S. administration's recent decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocate Washington’s embassy from Tel Aviv to the contested city.

“East Quds [Jerusalem] is the capital for us. We are backing this up and the Islamic world is also supporting it," the Turkish president said.

He also asserted determination in efforts to make the entire world recognize the state of Palestine.

The UN's 193-member General Assembly recently adopted a resolution on Jerusalem by an overwhelming majority, calling on the U.S. to withdraw its recognition of the city as Israel's capital.

A total of 128 members voted in favor of the resolution, while nine countries voted against it and 35 others abstained. Twenty-one countries did not cast a vote.

The Turkish president also reaffirmed his country's support to the Tunisia’s fight against terrorism.

"Thanks to this information sharing, we have either sent thousands of terrorists to their countries or have placed them behind bars,” he said.