Erdogan: Assad Will be Ousted Sooner or Later

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stressed that “sooner or later” Syrian President Bashar Assad will be ousted by his own people.

Erdogan, in an interview on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” to be aired Sunday, he said: “You can never remain in power through cruelty. You can never stand before the will of the people.”

“This process might be extended a little bit more but sooner or later in Syria, if people take a different decision, that decision is going to be catered to. Such as in Egypt, such as in Tunisia, such as in Libya. People want to be free,” he said in a transcript released by CNN Saturday.

“Dictatorial systems are burning down to the ground,” he added.

The PM warned however that relations with Israel will never normalize if the Jewish state doesn’t apologize for its deadly raid on the Turkish flotilla, pay compensation and lift the Gaza embargo.

“If these demands are not met, the relations between Turkey and Israel will never become normal again. We have got nothing against the people of Israel but against the attitude adopted by the administration of Israel,” Erdogan said.

“And if you are insistent on creating a source of unrest, you are bound to become lonelier and lonelier. They used to be great friends of ours. And this solitude is Israel’s fate under these circumstances.”