Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 10, 41 and 50 together.

The crisis in Syria dominated discussions when I attended the UN General Assembly in New York last month. I made clear when I addressed the General Assembly on 28 September that what is happening in Syria represents an affront to humanity with indiscriminate violence, which is not just confined to one side, taking place on an appalling scale.

There is a widespread feeling of despair and frustration at the continuing violence and the seeming inability of the United Nations, and in particular the Security Council, to act decisively and stop the slaughter of the Syrian people. I continue to believe that a strongly worded Security Council resolution under Chapter VII imposing a comprehensive arms embargo remains an essential step to halt the violence and cut off the flow of arms.

The immediate priority must remain the earliest possible ceasefire and the initiation of some form of political process leading to transition. Ireland and its EU partners continue strongly to support the mission of the UN-Arab League joint special envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, who clearly needs the active co-operation and support of all in the region and major international actors, such as Russia, if he is to have any chance of succeeding in his mission.

Syria was extensively discussed at the Foreign Affairs Council which I attended in Luxembourg on Monday. The EU has, of course, been playing a prominent role in efforts to stop the violence in Syria and in providing urgently needed humanitarian assistance. The Council adopted strongly worded conclusions once again warning about the dangers of further militarisation of the conflict, expressing full support for the endeavours of the joint special representative, Mr. Brahimi, and recalling the moral imperative to step up assistance in order to alleviate the suffering of the thousands of refugees and internally displaced Syrians.

The Council also adopted a series of further sanctions in a continuing effort to compel the Assad regime to halt the bloody repression it is inflicting on the Syrian people. The Council also emphasised the importance of ensuring full accountability for the very many crimes and serious human rights abuses committed in Syria. Nationally, Ireland continues to support the many calls which have been made for the situation in Syria to be referred by the Security Council to the International Criminal Court as the best means of guaranteeing accountability.

A major preoccupation in the Council’s discussions was the heightened tensions now existing in the region, following the appalling shelling of the Turkish border town of Akcakale on 3 October by the Syrian army and the subsequent impounding of a Syrian Airways aircraft at Ankara Airport last week. I have already strongly condemned the attack on Akcakale in a statement I issued in my role as OSCE chair on 4 October where I urged the Syrian Government to end all violence and to respect fully the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all neighbouring countries. I also offered my condolences to the families of those killed and to the Turkish people.

I have not had an opportunity to discuss with the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mr. Davutoglu, or with the Turkish ambassador the deplorable attack on Akcakale or the recent escalation in tensions between Turkey and Syria. However, what is clearly most required at present is restraint on all sides and a recognition that the crisis within Syria will only deepen if it is allowed spread out into the wider region. This was also very much the sentiment at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg and it is a message that I know the EU High Representative, Baroness Ashton, and all EU representatives, including myself, will continue to emphasise in our contacts with all sides involved in the conflict.

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