Turkish PM calls for 'Syria without Assad' in UN address

Anyone thinking of any solution to the Syrian conflict must think of a Syria without Bashar al-Assad, Turkish PM Ahmet Davuto?lu said Sept. 30, calling the embattled president "a vicious tyrant".

Speaking to the UN General Assembly in New York, Davuto?lu said the Syrian tragedy would not end unless the country had a legitimate government.
      
"Every minute [Assad] stays in power adds on the shame of those who support him," he said.

Davuto?lu's remarks came at a time of heightened international debate over Assad's future, with Russia and Iran actively backing their ally. Turkey, the US and others have insisted that Assad must leave office.

Earlier on Sept. 30, the upper house of Russia's parliament voted unanimously to give President Vladimir Putin the authority to deploy the country's armed forces in Syria, followed by the country's first airstrikes against positions associated with the Daesh militant group.

"The number of Syrians who fled chemical weapons, missiles and indiscriminate aerial bombardment by the Assad regime and ground assault by the terrorist organization Daesh has exceeded 4 million. And more than 12 million internally displaced, almost half of which are children, are in desperate need of help," Davuto?lu said.

"This tragedy will not end before the people of Syria have a legitimate government that truly represents their will and enjoys their full consent. Until then, the international community must act swiftly to provide them safety in their homeland, a 'safe area', free from aerial bombardment by the regime and ground assault by Daesh and other terrorist organizations," he added.

Syria's devastating civil war, now in its fifth year, has claimed more than 250,000 lives, according to UN...