İSTANBUL
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held a joint press conference after co-chairing the Ministerial Level Plenary of the Coordinating Committee meeting of the Global Counterrorism Forum (GCTF) in Istanbul.
Commenting on the situation in Syria during the briefing, Davutoglu said, "We still believe there are things we can achieve through diplomacy".
Responding to a question on the situation in Syria, Davutoglu said recent violent attacks in Houla and Hama towns showed how the Annan Plan had been by-passed time after time by the Syrian regime.
Davutoglu said Turkey had so far displayed bilateral, regional and international efforts to resolve the Syrian conflict.
"International community has a common opinion on the crimes committed by the Syrian administration," he said.
Davutoglu said existence of the Assad regime harmed regional stability and paved the way for a civil war.
Davutoglu held bilateral talks under Global Counterrorism Forum
On the other hand, Davutoglu held bilateral talks with foreign officials on the sidelines of the Ministerial Level Plenary of the Coordinating Committee meeting of the GCTF.
Diplomatic officials said that PKK terrorism and the ways to combat terrorist organization PKK in a more effective way were taken up in the meeting. Davutoglu and Clinton also exchanged views on developments in Iraq.
Davutoglu had a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr. Davutoglu and Amr discussed the situation in Egypt and Palestine in their meeting.
Turkish foreign minister met with Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar. Davutoglu and Khar took up Afghanistan in the meeting.
Davutoglu also had talks with Indonesian Foreign Minister Raden Mohammad Marty Muliana Natalegawa.
Natalegawa thanked Turkey for its efforts regarding the meeting of Global Counterrorism Forum (GCTF) and said they were eager to boost ties with Turkey.
