from Pax Christi International
In letters sent to EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and to Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, a group of 16 international civil society organizations working in Syria and the Middle East, including Pax Christi International, urged the EU and Turkey to act swiftly to avoid further bloodshed and promote a political process for transition in Syria. The organizations state that “with every day that passes and every other Syrian killed, a political way out becomes harder to achieve.”
The organizations urge the EU to use all its political leverage, to engage in immediate dialogue with the Syrian government and to promote dialogue between the government and the opposition. The organisations also call on the EU and all its member states to suspend all bilateral aid to Syria until the violent repression of peaceful demonstration ends and a clear timeline and implementation plan for the necessary reforms is presented. This should include the annual 40 million Euro of the ENP programme as well as member states’ bilateral aid programmes.
Since Turkey is one of the countries with the strongest diplomatic and economic leverage in Syria, the organizations also called on that country to urgently deepen its dialogue with the Syrian government and to promote dialogue between the government and the opposition. The organizations state that also Turkey should suspend certain fields of cooperation with Syria until the violent repression of peaceful demonstration ends and a clear timeline and implementation plan for the necessary reforms is presented.