ANKARA
Turkey's Minister of EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis said on Wednesday that the key point in the Syrian issue was the decision of the UN Security Council.
Bagis answered the questions of journalists at the Second General Assembly of World Design Cities in Ankara.
In response to a question about the position of Turkey in the case of a possible military intervention in Syria, Bagis said that the position of Turkey had been clear from the very beginning and would remain unchanged.
"Turkey puts all efforts to prevent the loss of lives and to preserve peace and stability in the region. Turkey doesn't have its eye for any energy source or land of any state. Turkey's only desire is to stop the bloodshed," the minister added.
Stating that some permanent members of the UN Security Council abstained from imposing sanctions on the Assad regime, Bagis said, "I strongly hope that the images of dead babies (from Syria) will bring all to their senses. If the UN Security Council makes the appropriate decisions and passes the necessary message in a clear manner, Assad will leave the country and Syrians will retrieve democracy without any intervention."
- Syria mandate row-
Bagis also touched on whether the government needed a new mandate to join the international coalition.
"We will examine the situation on Monday. If the current mandate isn't sufficient, we will take it to the parliament for a new one. I believe no MP will vote "no" on the mandate after the recent images which came from Syria," Bagis said.
Also expressing his hopes about Russia changing its attitude on the Syrian issue, Bagis said that they hoped the military intervention would be put into action not by a single state, but rather through the mutual decision of the international community.
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