BERLIN
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday called the United Nations to assume a "decisive" stance on the Syria crisis after Wednesday's reports of a deadly chemical weapon attack near Damascus which the Syrian opposition blamed on the regime forces.
"The UN can't assume an undecisive attitude about chemical weapon attacks in Syria." he told a joint press appearance with his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle in Berlin, the first stop of Davutoglu's European tour which also includes France and Italy.
Syrian National Coalition (SNC) said forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad carried out the attack in the suburbs of the Ghouta region. The SNC said at least 1,300 people were killed in the assault.
But the Syrian regime strongly denied the claim and described reports and figures as "lies and groundless," saying reports were aimed at "distracting a visiting team of United Nations chemical weapons experts from their mission."
A UN team is currently in Syria to investigate an earlier allegation of use of chemical weapons reported by the Syrian government at Khan al-Assal as well as two other allegations reported by Security Council member states.
"All redlines had already been crossed but the UN did not take action for Syria." Davutoglu said, apparently referring to a US assessment a year ago that use of cehmical weapons constituted a "redline" for the Obama administration and if crossed it would result in "enormous consequences."
"Syria denies carrying out such a attack. If it is confident enough, it should allow the UN team to investigate the site nera Damascus," Davutoglu said.
