Turkey PM Erdogan calls Assad a terrorist

ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Turkey's prime minister criticized U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for praising Syrian President Bashar Assad for agreeing to destroy his chemical weapons.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters in Ankara he could not believe Kerry would praise Assad for complying with the U.N. resolution calling for destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile.

Erodgan Monday called Assad "a terrorist who has killed 110,000 people of his own country," Today's Zaman reported.

"It does not matter if these people were killed with chemical weapons or with other weapons. In the end they were killed," Erdogan said.

"I do not recognize Assad as a politician anymore. He is a terrorist who kills with his state terrorism."

Kerry, attending an Asia-Pacific summit in Bali, Indonesia, told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov it is "extremely significant that yesterday, Sunday, within a week of the resolution being passed, some chemical weapons were already being destroyed," Today's Zaman reported

"I think it's also a credit to the Assad regime for complying rapidly, as they are supposed to," Kerry said. "It is a good beginning, and we should welcome a good beginning."