Turkey's Erdogan takes Russia, China, Iran to task over Syria conflict

GlobalPost

The Turkish leader today hit out at Russia, China and Iran over their Syria policy, reported the Associated Press

The Russian position? Supporting "a massacre," according to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. China? Liars. "[A]lthough [Chinese President' Hu Jintao had told me they wouldn't veto the plan [for a safe zone] for a third time, they did at the UN vote," he said. As for the Iranian position, it's "impossible to understand," AP cited Erdogan as saying. 

More from GlobalPost: Turkey: Erdogan hints at talks with Kurdish rebel movement

The international community has been unable to unite behind a solution to the conflict in Syria, which began over a year ago as an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad and has since devolved into a civil war that has cost tens of thousands of lives. 

Erdogan's comments come a day after Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York at Tehran's request, reported The Journal of Turkish Weekly, citing unnamed sources. Davutoglu reportedly pressed Ahmadinejad to assist on the Syria issue. 

The Turkish Prime Minister, meanwhile, has been vocal in his criticism of the Syrian regime, having earlier accused Assad of maintaining a "terrorist state," said AP.

He has also charged Syria with arming Kurdish rebels locked in a separate conflict with the Turkish government. 

Sign up for our daily newsletter

Sign up for The Top of the World, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.