Erdogan calls strike on Syrian regime ‘appropriate’

By Faruk Zorlu

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday welcomed the airstrikes by the U.S., U.K. France against the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.

"We find the operation appropriate," Erdogan told a crowd during the sixth ordinary district congress of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party in Istanbul's Fatih.

The president said this sensitivity towards chemical attacks of the Assad regime should also be shown when conventional weapons are used to kill innocent people in Syria.

"I am calling on the entire world here. Let’s discuss the future of all kinds of weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and conventional weapons in detail.

"Let’s use all resources for the sake of humanity instead of using them for nuclear and conventional armament projects."

Erdogan also said he would be in contact with leaders of the U.S. and Russia.

"My fellows stay in close contact with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. We will talk with him and America today, [or] tomorrow."

The U.S., U.K., and France launched airstrikes on the Assad regime's alleged chemical weapons facilities in Syria earlier on Saturday.

The strikes came after the Assad regime was accused of carrying out a chemical attack in Syria's Douma, which killed 78 civilians and injured hundreds of others.