Turkey's opposition lawmakers say Americans' minds confused about Syria

WASHINGTON (A.A) - December 15, 2011 - Turkey's opposition lawmakers said on Wednesday that the minds of U.S. executives were confused about Syria. The deputy chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP) said that it was not possible to say that the Americans could clearly see the future regarding Syria. "Their minds are confused about not only how to make Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down but also what will happen to Syria after al-Assad," Faruk Logoglu told reporters. During their talks with think-tank organizations, they had seen that some circles were expecting creation of a buffer zone in Syria, Logoglu said. Logoglu said there was not any United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution regarding that.  "Turkey's making such a thing will mean occupation of Syrian territories, and it means a climate of war under the international law. They tell us that Arab League wants that. Then Arab League should do it on its own," Logoglu said. Logoglu said the U.S. administration admitted that Syrian issue was complicated, and it believed that al-Assad could not step down through dialogue or negotiations. "However, as CHP, we think that dialogue and a political process should be followed, and dialogue between the opposition and regime should be pushed hard until the process ends with al-Assad's stepping down," he said. Logoglu said they had seen that the United States needed Turkey regarding developments in Syria. "We told them that Turkey should pursue an autonomous, independent and peculiar policy since Syria is a neighboring country. Turkey has an influence on both opposition and the regime. The peculiarity of our position for Syria can have a positive role, and no country can play such a role," he said. Moreover, Logoglu said CHP wanted Turkey to better its relations with Israel in case Israel paid compensation and apologized due to the Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that killed nine in 2010. CHP delegation visited American Turkish Council on the third day of their visit to Washington. The delegation met Senator John McCain and House of Representatives member Steve Cohen at the Congress.  Later, CHP delegation met Turkish people working at the World Bank as well as foreign journalists. CHP delegation will proceed to New York on Thursday. (Reporting by Bariskan Unal/Mehmet Toroglu) (BRC-HHK)