Washington: The Pentagon has expressed its outrage over the attack on Turkey by Syrian forces that left five people dead, and said it is time for the Assad regime, which “continues to kill” Syrian people, to step down.
Reiterating Washington’s solidarity with Ankara, Pentagon on Thursday expressed hope that the recent act of aggression by Syria will not escalate into a border conflict.
Asserting that the US was “outraged” by the Syrian act, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said at a news conference termed shooting across the Turkish border as absolutely “inappropriate, wrong and deplorable”. “It is time for the Assad regime to step down. They continue to kill innocent civilians in Syria, and it’s time for the Syrian people to be able to determine their own future in a country that is free of this kind of brutality,” Little said a day after five Turkish civilians were killed in artillery attack by Syrian forces across the Turkish border.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had on Thursday spoken to her Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu, and extended full American support.
The North Atlantic Council had also issued a statement in support of Turkey’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and condemned the “flagrant violations” of international law. (PTI)
