Davutoğlu makes unscheduled stopover in Doha for Syrian opposition

Speaking at a press conference in Bursa, the foreign minister said that he would pay a visit to Doha as a final stage has been reached with positive developments in the meeting of the Syrian opposition in Qatar.

Recalling that he attended the meeting of the Syrian opposition in Qatar on Thursday, he said that the meeting was of great importance with regard to restructuring the opposition. Davutoğlu stated that he had phone conversations with Qatar's Prime Minister Hamad bin Jasim bin Jabir al-Thani late Saturday, adding he had exchanged views with Thani concerning the meeting of the Syrian opposition held in Qatar.

He also noted that preparations for the final stage would be completed on Sunday evening.

“There were some problems that needed to be overcome. As Turkey, we contributed to the resolution of these problems both in the meeting in Doha as well as from here. Currently, the meeting in Doha has come to the final stage with positive developments. Around 9 p.m., the last preparation will be finished in Qatar. In other words, the restructuring process will be completed, “said Davutoğlu.

Davutoğlu called for greater international support for the Syrian opposition in Qatar on Thursday in a landmark meeting of Syria's fractious opposition to hammer out an agreement on a new umbrella body uniting opposition groups inside and outside Syria amid growing international pressure to put their house in order and prepare for a post-Assad transition.

Noting that Thursday's meeting marks a critical turning point in terms of Syria's future, Davutoğlu said that the meeting is of great importance as it aimed to unite the Syrian opposition and prepare it for a democratic process.

Syrian opposition groups have signed an initial agreement to form a new coalition of forces fighting to end the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, Syrian delegates at talks in Doha said on Sunday.

“An initial deal has been signed. The evening session will be for electing the president of the body and his deputy,” Ali Sadreddine al-Bayanouni, a Muslim Brotherhood delegate, told reporters.

The new body, made up of groups inside and outside Syria, would be called the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces, delegates said.

US diplomats and officials from Qatar, which has bankrolled opposition to Assad and played a major role in Arab diplomacy against him, have prodded the players over the past week to come to an arrangement.   

The parties were close to a deal in the early hours of Sunday after Qatari and United Arab Emirates officials pressed them to agree, but it appeared to fall through when the meeting broke up at 3 a.m.

The Syrian National Council (SNC), which has led overseas opposition activity over the past year, had lost the confidence of Washington and other powers that saw it as ineffective and riven with personal disputes.

The new plan involves a 55- or 60-member assembly alongside a military council including opposition groups such as the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and a judicial council.

It will seek to obtain international recognition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people and form a 10-member government-in-waiting, SNC member Wael Merza told Reuters.

At the talks in Doha bringing together various opposition groups, the SNC had been concerned at being sidelined in the wider body, a US-backed proposal presented by prominent dissident Riad Seif.

A source inside the meeting said the SNC had asked to continue the talks on Sunday but that it would be a “last chance,” suggesting that opposition figures behind the US-backed initiative are threatening to go ahead without the SNC.

Davutoğlu's statements came after the 27th meeting of the Reform Monitoring Group (RMG) hosted by Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç was held in the western province of Bursa on Sunday.

Bursa hosts ministerial reform group meeting

The Reform Monitoring Group (RMG) meeting, which took place at the Crown Plaza Hotel, was attended by Davutoğlu, Minister for European Union Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış, Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin, Prime Ministry Undersecretary Efkan Ala, co-chairman of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee Afif Demirkıran, and Mehmet Tekelioğlu, president of Parliament's EU Integration Committee at TGNA.

Instead of Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin, who was also scheduled to attend the meeting, Deputy Interior Minister Osman Güneş attended as Şahin participated in the funeral of the 17 soldiers who were killed on Saturday when their helicopter crashed in southeastern Turkey. The funeral was held in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır.

The RMG, which was established in September 2003, closely follows work on legislation of a political nature in Turkey and its effective implementation.

Following the 27th RMG meeting, which was closed to the press corps, the ministers held a press conference.

The RMG, which is considered the engine of reforms carried out in line with Turkey's European Union membership process, consists of the justice minister, the foreign minister, the interior minister and the chief negotiator for EU affairs.

The previous meeting of the RMG was held on June 8, 2012, in Ordu.