Turkish President calls for trial of Syria's Assad on charges of state terrorism at International Criminal Court
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called for the trial of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on charges of state terrorism at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
"500,000 people have been killed in Syria. Cruel and terrorist Assad committed state terrorism, and must be tried in The Hague [seat of the International Criminal Court]," Erdoğan said during a program televised live on state broadcaster TRT Sunday night.
"A man who killed this many people by dropping barrel bombs can still talk freely and get the red carpet treatment in Moscow. How can this happen? What kind of a UN Security Council member [Russia] is this?" Erdoğan asked.
"That is why I keep saying 'The world is bigger than five', meaning five countries cannot determine the fate of 196 countries. They have no right to do this.
"Perhaps this was acceptable during the World War. However, we are no longer under the same circumstances. Therefore, this must change," the Turkish president said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey is long overdue for a Schengen visa deal and accused the European Union (EU) of being insincere in Turkey's accession process.
"Actually, we are long overdue for the Schengen deal. We officially applied to be a member [of EU] in 1963, and during this process, they have always deceived us.
"They have never been sincere. And they are still not being sincere," Erdoğan said.
EU and Turkey recently agreed on a new deal, according to which the bloc agreed to accelerate Turkey's accession process in exchange for stemming refugee flows to Europe.
Refugees and asylum seekers seeking to enter Europe irregularly will be sent to Turkey starting from Sunday under the deal, Turkey's EU Minister Volkan Bozkır earlier said.
For every refugee or asylum seeker sent to Turkey, a Syrian refugee from Turkish camps will be resettled in the EU. Those trying to enter Europe illegally will not receive the chance to be resettled in the EU, according to the terms of the deal.
EU is expected to accelerate Turkey's accession process by opening chapter 33 on financial and budgetary provisions by June 30.
Ankara also requested visa-free travel for its citizens by the end of June and an additional three billion euros ($3.3 billion) to meet the needs of Syrian refugees in Turkey.
