ISTANBUL // Turkey and the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council yesterday urged the government in Syria to accept a plan by the Arab League that includes a demand for Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to step aside.
"As Turkey and as Gulf Cooperation Council, we unequivocally support the efforts by the Arab League on Syria," Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters after meeting foreign ministers from the six countries of the GCC in Istanbul. He said the meeting's participants hoped that the Syrian government would accept the Arab League's recent peace plan, stop the violence against protesters and embark on "a reform process that is in line with the demands of the people".
According to the United Nations, more than 5,400 people have been killed in 10 months of violence in Syria, where Mr Al Assad's security forces have been trying to crush a protest movement against his government. Damascus says it is battling militants and has rejected an Arab League proposal that Mr Al Assad hand over power within two months, saying the request impinges on its sovereignty. The League said yesterday it was suspending its observer mission in Syria because of a recent increase of violence.
In a joint statement issued after the one-day meeting, Turkey and the GCC said the lack of progress to solve the crisis in Syrian with the help of the Arab League peace plan was "mostly due to the intransigent attitude displayed by the Syrian administration". The meeting called on Syria "to fulfill without delay all of its commitments and obligations under the Arab League peace initiative".
The meeting, the fourth of its kind since the start of the formalised dialogue between Turkey and the GCC in 2008, came shortly after the GCC decided to pull its monitors from Syria and called on the United Nations Security Council to take "all needed measures" to support the Arab plan.
Abdullatif Al Zayani, the GCC general secretary, who also attended the Istanbul meeting, is scheduled to travel to Brussels to meet Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Nato general secretary, tomorrow and the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Tuesday.
Turkey, the only Muslim Nato member, formally embraced the Arab plan for Syria on January 24, declaring that "the situation in Syria is unsustainable" and supporting "a gradual political transition process in the country". A statement released by the foreign ministry in Ankara late on Friday called on "all the relevant actors of the international community, the United Nations Security Council in particular, to take the necessary steps resolutely and urgently".
The Security Council has been deadlocked for months on Syria. Russia and China vetoed a previous European resolution in October, accusing the West of seeking regime change. The Istanbul meeting was held amid new efforts by Arab and European nations to get the UN to do something about Syria.
Representatives of the Syrian opposition in exile yesterday used a news conference in Istanbul to issue a call to Syrians around the world to gather outside Syrian and Russian embassies as well as UN institutions for demonstrations today. They also said they would ask the Security Council for protection, according to Agence France-Presse.
Mr Davutoglu praised the cooperation between his country and the Gulf states. "There are big challenges ahead, but there is also a big potential," he said about the cooperation between Turkey and the GCC, which consists of the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Today, Mr Davutoglu will accompany Abdullah Gul, Turkey's president, on a four-day state visit to the UAE.
It will be the first state visit of a Turkish president to the UAE for 15 years, according to a statement from Mr Gul's office.
tseibert@thenational.ae
FIGHT%20CARD
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
PROFILE OF INVYGO
Started: 2018
Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo
Based: Dubai
Sector: Transport
Size: 9 employees
Investment: $1,275,000
Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
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Uefa Champions League last 16 draw
Juventus v Tottenham Hotspur
Basel v Manchester City
Sevilla v Manchester United
Porto v Liverpool
Real Madrid v Paris Saint-Germain
Shakhtar Donetsk v Roma
Chelsea v Barcelona
Bayern Munich v Besiktas
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
What is an FTO Designation?
FTO designations impose immigration restrictions on members of the organisation simply by virtue of their membership and triggers a criminal prohibition on knowingly providing material support or resources to the designated organisation as well as asset freezes.
It is a crime for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to or receive military-type training from or on behalf of a designated FTO.
Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances removable from, the United States.
Except as authorised by the Secretary of the Treasury, any US financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which an FTO or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Treasury Department.
Source: US Department of State
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Monday, Sept 30
Al Sadd v Esteghlal (8pm)
Persepolis v Pakhtakor (8pm)
Al Wasl v Al Ahli (8pm)
Al Nassr v Al Rayyan (10pm)
Tuesday, Oct 1
Al Hilal v Al Shorta (10pm)
Al Gharafa v Al Ain (10pm)
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
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Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Biography
Favourite Meal: Chicken Caesar salad
Hobbies: Travelling, going to the gym
Inspiration: Father, who was a captain in the UAE army
Favourite read: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter
Favourite film: The Founder, about the establishment of McDonald's
Easter%20Sunday
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
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- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
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Indika
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RESULTS
6.30pm Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
Winner Canvassed, Par Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
7.05pm Meydan Cup – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,810m
Winner Dubai Future, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
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Winner Mouheeb, Ryan Curatolo, Nicholas Bachalard
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Winner Secret Ambition, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
9.50pm Meydan Classic – Conditions (TB) $$50,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Topper Bill, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
9.25pm Dubai Sprint – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner Man Of Promise, William Buick, Charlie Appleby