Turkey FM: Syria cannot deny war crime photos

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the Syrian regime cannot deny that the recently published war crime photos are not theirs. In an interview with the private Turkish news channel NTV in Davos, Davutoglu talked about the first day of the Geneva II Conference, saying that the Syrian regime and opposition's attitude were 'not a surprise' for Turkey. However, he said that one of the positive aspects of the conference was clarifying the two sides of the issue. "Walid al-Muallim's (Syria's Foreign Minister) speech unmasked lots of things. He didn't use any positive phrases. He didn't talk about a 'transitional period' or 'people's will'. He made accusations to Turkey as well as the Syrian opposition. That presented a clear picture for people who still have hope about the regime." Turkey's Foreign Minister also stressed that no country, including Russia and China, could justify Assad's existing power. Davutoglu explained that Turkey's offer to conduct negotiations is two-legged, conveying the importance of humanitarian aid, and forming an interim government. He added: "I have talked about this issue to Ban Ki Moon and Kerry and all the other countries. You have seen the photos, you have seen all 55,000 of them. The victims were systematically tortured, you cannot invent these photos." "There are two paths before the regime now, either it will negotiate seriously or all of the members of the regime will go to the Hague and be tried at international criminal courts. One of these will definitely happen in the upcoming period." Meanwhile, Davutoglu told the TV channel that PYD's autonomy declaration, a political offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, would not affect Syria's future, and as a result, Kurds were not outcasted in Geneva II.  "We know that PYD is cooperating with the Syrian regime." During his TV interview, Davutoglu also addressed the need for Turkish businessmen to invest in Iraq's oil sector. "Iraq has the biggest oil potential in our region. We can't just be neighbors and stay out of this potential. We hope the conflict in Iraq will end soon." Davutoglu will continue his Davos meetings with Iran's Foreign Minister and President of Iraq Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani. He will conclude the day with the "Your Vision for the OSCE" (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) meeting hosted by Switzerland Foreign Minister, Didier Burkhalter.