“We are ready to do everything if there is a clear strategy that after ISIS, we can be sure that our border will be protected. We don’t want the regime anymore on our border pushing people againsttowards Turkey. We don’t want other terrorist organizations to be active there.”
“We want this humanitarian policy on the other side of the border. Second: military strategy, security. If there is there any threat against our national security, we will take all the measures — all the measures.”
Turkey, Syria’s northern neighbor, has been central to the civil war there since it began over three years ago. Then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan broke with his longtime ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to support Syria’s opposition.
Ever since, the government has been trying to convince the international community to do more to stop al-Assad.
U.S. President Barack Obama, long wary of becoming involved, has become convinced that he must intervene in the Syrian war, but only to stop ISIS, not to go after the leader he nonetheless says long ago lost the legitimacy to govern.
‘Our approach should be comprehensive’
“We shouldn’t be separating pre-ISIS and post-ISIS Syria,” Davutoglu told Amanpour. “From the first early days of the crisis until now, no other country did more than Turkey; what Turkey did against the attacks, brutal attacks of the regime, as well as against ISIS.”
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“I made some important changes” in the Cabinet, Davutoglu said. “That was my own choice. I don’t want to make big changes because there will be a new — another election in 2015.”
“I also told and I promised my people that there is a need for a new constitution because this constitution is a product of a military coup d’etat. But the main change of constitution is — will be directed to human rights and not state-centric constitution.”
On the eve of Davutoglu’s ascension to prime minister, a prominent Turkish writer said in The New York Times that he could have a calming effect on the country’s politics.
“Although Mr. Erdogan chose him because they seem to agree on all major issues, Mr. Davutoglu could still help Turkey by bringing his gentle, polite and smiling persona to the country’s bitter and hate-filled political scene,” Mustafa Akyol wrote.
“First of all, the assumption is wrong,” Davutoglu said. “In many aspects, in fact, there have been many reforms in last three, four years.”
“About my style, everybody has his personality, and this does not mean these are alternatives to each other. These could be complementary and inclusive in that sense. And I will, from academic life until now, I had the same personality, my personality didn’t change and will not change.”
