Turkey Warns of Expansion of Assad’s Terrorism

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Turkey’s Foreign Minister, warns that the Assad regime may seek to extend its control on more areas taking advantage of the strikes carried out by the US-led coalition against ISIS. “Pro-Assad forces are filling the vacuum caused by the expulsion of ISIS militants out of the areas under their control, and it is no secret that there is no significant difference between ISIS and Assad as they both brutally kill civilians,” Çavuşoğlu said. Hadi al-Bahra, President of the Syrian National Coalition, warned in an interview with the Guardian newspaper on Monday that air strikes against Isis by the US-led coalition were weakening support inside Syria for already embattled non-extremist anti-Assad forces. “US-led attacks on ISIS are the product of a confused policy that is turning a blind eye to the crimes the Assad regime,” Bahra said. “The US-led coalition is fighting the symptom of the problem, which is ISIS, without addressing the main cause, which is the regime. People see coalition planes hitting ISIS targets but turning a blind eye to Assad’s air force, which is using barrel bombs and rockets against civilian targets in Aleppo and elsewhere.” Mohammed Qaddah, vice president of the Syrian Coalition, criticized the US-led anti-ISIS alliance’s policy in Syria and its failure to provide the FSA with military aid in its battle against regime forces that are on the brink of encircling Aleppo. “The US-led anti-ISIS coalition’s singling out of the city of Kobane to receive military support while ignoring the rest of Syrian cities is unacceptable and detrimental to Syria’s national interests. Moreover, this selectivity in dealing with the situation in Syria, while aimed at serving specific international and regional interests, insists on ignoring the demands of the Syrian people for toppling Assad and building a state of law, justice and democracy,” Qaddah said. (Source: Syrian Coalition)