Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has accused Turkey of harboring terrorists and transferring them into his country.
“Turkey’s government officially harbors terrorists and sends them into Syria. They’re also crossing over from Jordan,” Assad said during an interview with Turkish TV station Ulusal Kanal, which was aired on Friday.
Damascus says Ankara has been playing a key role in fueling the unrest in Syria by financing, training, and arming the militants since violence erupted in the Arab country in March 2011.
The Syrian president also warned that if his country “is partitioned, or if terrorist forces take control of the country, there will be direct contagion of the surrounding countries.”
Assad also referred to the infiltration of terrorists from some other neighbors of Syria and said, “Of course, not necessarily all these countries are doing it on purpose. Iraq, for example, is against the infiltration of terrorists, but it has special circumstances, and cannot control its borders. In Lebanon, there are some different factions that help people who want to infiltrate Syria.”
Assad also slammed the Arab League for its recent decision to give Syria’s seat to its foreign-backed opposition coalition.
“The Arab League lacks legitimacy. It’s a league that represents the Arab states, not the Arab people, so it can’t grant or retract legitimacy,” Assad said.
On March 26, the Arab League handed Syria’s seat to the so-called National Coalition during a two-day summit held in the Qatari capital, Doha.
The Arab League also authorized its member states to send all means of what it called self-defense, including weapons, to the foreign-sponsored terrorists inside Syria.
Many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence in Syria.
The Syrian government has said that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and that a very large number of the militants operating in the country are foreign nationals.
Several international human rights organizations have accused the foreign-sponsored militants of committing war crimes.
DB/HN/HJL
via PressTV – Turkey sends terrorists into Syria: President Assad.