Davutoglu: We focus on diplomatic and humanitarian steps on Syria but think about all possible options and scenarios

WASHINGTON (A.A) - February 14, 2012 - Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Monday that they were focusing on diplomatic and humanitarian steps on Syria but were at the same time thinking about all possible options and scenarios as politicians. Speaking at a joint press conference with his U.S. counterpart Hillary Clinton in Washington, Davutoglu said that they could not remain silent when a humanitarian tragedy continued in Syria. We now talk on diplomatic and humanitarian steps. I do hope that there will be no need for other scenarios, Davutoglu stressed. In response to a question on the possibility of Turkey establishing a buffer zone in Syria and Turkey sending troops to a mission in Syria, Davutoglu said that, as politicians, they had to think about all options and scenarios. Certain scenarios are not preferred but there is a situation in Syria that keeps us alarmed and worried. The agenda at the meeting in Tunisia will be on finding a political and diplomatic solution, Davutoglu said. We do hope that there will be no need for scenarios for unexpected developments. As a neighbor of Syria, our priority would be to protect the civilians in Syria, Davutoglu noted. There are millions of people living in Turkey who are relatives of Syrians. We can not remain silent when humanitarian tragedies continue. We now talk on the diplomatic and humanitarian steps that may be taken and we hope that there will not be a need for other scenarios. We have to think about all the possibilities, Davutoglu emphasized. In regard to a question on Syria, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that they supported the decisions of the Arab League taken in Cairo. We wish to work closely with the Arab League on the way to the international conference in Tunisia, Clinton said. There are certain difficulties associated with implementing all of the advices of the Arab League. The demand for a peace force in Syria requires agreement and compromise. We are not sure if we can convince Syria. They have rejected the proposal on Monday, Clinton noted. We will discuss all ideas at the meeting in Tunisia which will bring together Turkey, the U.S. and other countries who want to end violence in Syria and see the implementation of change. It would be important to convince the Assad regime that they are progressing towards a point that would be condemned by the international community. We do not wish to see a civil war in Syria. Nobody wants a civil war. We need to make sure that the Assad regime and its supporters understand that there is path for peace and democratic change that we support or else they would enter a period of chaos bringing more violence to be condemned by all of us, Clinton said. -Iran- In response to a question on Iran's nuclear file, Davutoglu said that Turkey was one of the countries that experienced a certain loss due to the tension with Iran. Once Iran's nuclear file gets solved, Turkey will be one of the winning countries, Davutoglu said. As Turkey, we are against military nuclear capacity in our region. We wish to see nuclear disarmament in the whole world.  At the same time, we do not want limits for peaceful use of nuclear energy, Davutoglu noted. Iran must assure the international community that its nuclear technology would not have military dimension. At the same time, the right to have a peaceful nuclear technology must be granted to Iran and all other countries, Davutoglu stressed. Turkey will make contributions to this process. The name or position of the contribution is not important. We will do all we can for the solution of this issue. We hosted the last meeting between Iran and P5+1 (5 permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) in 2011. If a request comes up, we are ready to host an other meeting. We are determined to make contributions to the process, Davutoglu added.