Ankara, March 29: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday Syrian President Bashar Assad had not given him “a negative answer” when he urged him to listen to his people in two phone calls over the last three days.
He was speaking at Ankara airport before leaving for Iraq where he led trade talks with Iraqi leaders that he said would be a step toward greater regional stability.
On Syria, Erdogan said he had suggested to Assad that he meet some of the demands of thousands of people who have taken part in pro-democracy demonstrations across Syria.
“[The Syrians] said they were working on lifting the state of emergency to meet demands. They told us they were working on political parties … we hope these measures are actually implemented rather than remaining promises,” Erdogan said.
“We did not receive a negative answer when we urged Mr. Assad to listen to the voice of people. I hope he makes the announcement today or tomorrow,” he added.
Dozens of people have been killed in the demonstrations. Assad deployed the army for the first time in the port of Latakia Saturday.
Turkish officials have been guarded in commenting on events in Syria. Relations between the two countries have improved since Erdogan’s AK Party came to power, while Turkey’s old friendship with Israel has soured.
“It is impossible for us to remain silent in the face of these events, we have a 800 kilometers long border with Syria,” Erdogan said.
In Baghdad, Erdogan was expected to meet Tuesday with one of Shiite Islam’s top spiritual leaders, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said. Political observers in Baghdad believe Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani may ask Erdogan to act as a mediator in Bahrain, where a Sunni monarchy has cracked down on Shiite-led protesters demanding greater rights and political freedoms.
In his talks Monday with Iraqi leaders, Erdogan also appealed for more help from Baghdad in combating Kurdish rebels who seek greater rights in Turkey and operate from safe havens in the north of Iraq. Erdogan will travel to Iraq’s northern autonomous Kurdish region, the first Turkish prime minister to do so.
At the top of his agenda, however, were business investments, including to help Iraq export oil and boost its dwindling electricity and water supplies.
“Increasing cooperation between Turkey and Iraq in all fields is of key importance for the stability and welfare of the whole region,” Erdogan told reporters Monday before arriving in Baghdad.
After his meeting with Erdogan, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said both nations have suffered attacks from “terrorist operations” but are now looking beyond their borders to promote regional security.
“Both countries now have more political and security stability, and both will offer as much as we can to solve problems in the region,” Maliki said.
Turkey, which has served as a mediator in many regional conflicts under Erdogan, is also maintaining contacts with both sides in the fighting between Moammar Gadhafi’s forces and Libyan rebels in an attempt to arrange a cease-fire.
Asked about operations in Libya, to be taken over by NATO, Erdogan said Turkey had agreed to take responsibility for humanitarian aid distribution at the airport in the rebel stronghold Benghazi and Turkish naval forces would help control the corridor between Crete and Benghazi.
“We have not been the country who is dropping bombs or firing bullets, and nor will we be,” he said.
Erdogan told Britain’s Guardian newspaper in a report published Sunday that Turkey was prepared to act as mediator to broker an early ceasefire in Libya and he said any drawn-out conflict risked turning Libya into a second Iraq.
Erdogan said he had spoken to the Libyan prime minister since international air strikes began in Libya, and Foreign Minister Davutoglu was in close touch with the opposition based in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.
Erdogan’s visit was his first since Maliki formed a government in December. In a key development Monday, Maliki Monday submitted the names of lawmakers to run the country’s defense and interior police ministries.
If Parliament confirms Ibrahim Mohammad al-Lami as interior minister and Khalid Mitaab al-Obeidi as the defense chief, Iraq may soon start considering whether to ask U.S. troops to remain beyond a Dec. 31 withdrawal deadline, as some lawmakers want.
Scattered violence continues to plague Iraq on a daily basis.
In Baghdad, three bombs exploded a few hours before Erdogan’s arrival, killing one person and wounding 13.
Three more people were killed in an unsuccessful pair of jewelry store heists in the capital that also left 11 injured. In the northern city of Mosul, a former Al-Qaeda stronghold, police said unknown gunmen stormed a family home, killing six women and a man in the early hours Monday before escaping.
And ethnic clashes broke out between Kurdish and Turkmen students outside a college in Kirkuk.
Eleven students were injured in the scuffles, which included rock-throwing, said police Brig. Gen. Adel Zein-Alabdin.
——–Agencies