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US calls on Turkey to press Bashar al-Assad to step down

17 August 2011 08:54 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Rashad Suleymanov â€“ APA. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Turkey and Saudi Arabia to press Bashar al-Assad to step down. Attending the event together with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta Hillary Clinton called USâ€™ policy toward Libya and Syria â€œsmart powerâ€.
â€œWe are leading, but part of leading is making sure that you get other people on the field. And that’s what I think we are doing," she said.
"It’s not going to be any news if the United States says Assad needs to go," Clinton said, suggesting the world’s reaction to such a move would be, "Ok, fine. What’s next?"
"If Turkey says it, if King Abdullah (of Saudi Arabia) says it, if other people say it, there’s no way the Assad regime can ignore it," Clinton said.