Gul: UNSC should seriously listen to Turkey

As the UN Security Council (UNSC) prepares to draft a resolution for the Syrian deal, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Monday that the Council should seriously listen to Turkey. "It is said that there is about one ton of chemical weapons in Syria. We will be the happiest one when the chemical weapons are completely wiped out. So we support [the plan]," Gul told press members in the Turkish capital of Ankara. Under a plan brokered by Russia and the US, Syria agreed to disclose its full chemical arms arsenal within a week and eliminate it by mid-2014. The UN Security Council is expected to draft a resolution for the Syrian deal in the coming days. "The Council should seriously listen to Turkey since it was the one most affected by what was happening in Syria," Gul emphasized before receiving ambassadors of Benine and Belgium who presented their letters of credence. Turkish president also underlined the needs of a "strong political determination" to resolve the more than 2 years of crisis in Syria. Since the uprising against President Assad began in 2011, more than 100,000 people were killed. Millions of Syrians fled the country, mostly to neighbouring nations and millions more have been internally displaced within Syria.