Turkey Considers All Wmds Crime Against Humanity: Spokesman

Spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry Levent Gumrukcu said in a weekly press briefing on Thursday, "Should Syria's chemical weapons be transferred to another country, the process [of their destruction] must be realized in an effective and timely manner."

Gumrukcu expressed that allegations that the chemical weapons used in Syria had been transferred from Turkey were absolutely baseless and untrue. Turkey never becomes involved in the production, usage or possession of chemical weapons, and considers all chemicals or weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) as a crime against humanity, he said.

Gumrukcu stated that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) normally anticipates that the process of destroying chemical weapons will take place in the country possessing them, but that it is permittable to transfer Syria's stockpile to another country in order to accelerate the process. He also noted that the issue of transferring Assad's chemical weapons to another country is a technical one which will be decided on after Syria presents its inventory and experts submit their report on the issue.

In response to a question on the time and costs of destroying Syria's chemical weapons, Gumrukcu said the agreement between Russia and the US includes a clear schedule for the process and Assad has to submit detailed inventory documents on the stockpile and chemical weapons plants in accordance with it. Gumrukcu also stated that the process of destroying the chemical weapons at their current locations, or transfering them to another country, would start by mid-November after the UN's verification of the data submitted by the Assad regime.

Touching on the meeting of Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu with his British, US and French counterparts, the spokesperson said that Davutoglu had underlined all of Turkey's concerns as well as all deterrent measures to be taken in the case of any violations.

After being asked whether the second UN team to visit Syria was authorized to reveal the chemical attack's perpetrator given that the UN report lacks such information, Gumrukcu said the UN team had not determined the perpatrator as it was not authorized to do so.

However, since the UN report clearly indicates the type of weapons used as well as the place and method of their usage, it shows the August 21 chemical attack was conducted by the regime, emphasized Gumrukcu.

Regarding the claims by Saleh Muslim, leader of the PYD, a political offshoot of the outlawed PKK, on the verification of Turkey's weapons sale to radical groups fighting with PYD in northern Syria, Gumrukcu said, "No such document has reached us."

Gumrukcu said Turkey's stance towards Kurds in Syria had not changed since the beginning as Turkey continues to consider Kurds a principal party of the changing political sphere in Syria.

"A charming development occurred yesterday in Istanbul during the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) Meeting indicating that the Kurdish National Council will also work with the SNC from now on," continued Gumrukcu.

Announcing that Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu would visit New York to to the attend UN General Assembly meeting on Friday, Gumrukcu said Davutoglu would address the Syrian issue, Turkey's candidacy for membeship to the UN Security Council, while also holiding bilateral talks and attending trilateral forums.

During his return, Davutoglu is also scheduled to attend the 64th Executive Council Meeting of the UNHCR in Geneva on September 30 and October 1, noted Gumrukcu. - Ankara