Dec 27, 2017

Turkey's president says Assad "is definitely a terrorist"

Haley Britzky

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. Photo: Milos Bicanski / Getty Images

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "is definitely a terrorist who has carried out state terrorism," according to Reuters.

"It is impossible to continue with Assad. How can we embrace the future with a Syrian president who has killed close to a million of his citizens?"

Why it matters: Turkey had been working with Russia and Iran "for a political resolution," Reuters reports, and Erdogan had since toned down his negative language against the Syrian president. But Erdogan now says "there is no peace in Syria and this peace won't come with Assad." A Syrian foreign ministry source was quoted by Syria's state news agency SANA saying that Erdogan is attempting to "absolve himself of the crimes which he has committed against the Syrian people."

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Coronavirus dashboard

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  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 5 p.m. ET: 716,101 — Total deaths: 33,854 — Total recoveries: 148,900.
  2. U.S.: Leads the world in cases. Total confirmed cases as of 5 p.m. ET: 136,880 — Total deaths: 2,409 — Total recoveries: 2,612.
  3. Federal government latest: The first federal prisoner to die from coronavirus was reported from a correctional facility in Louisiana on Sunday.
  4. Public health updates: Fauci says 100,000 to 200,000 Americans could die from virus.
  5. State updates: Louisiana governor says state is on track to exceed ventilator capacity by end of this week — Cuomo says Trump's mandatory quarantine comments "panicked" some people into fleeing New York
  6. World updates: Italy on Sunday reports 756 new deaths, bringing its total 10,779. Spain reports almost 840 dead, another new daily record that bring its total to over 6,500.
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President Trump sent about a half-dozen tweets on Sunday touting the high television ratings that his coronavirus press briefings have received, selectively citing a New York Times article that compared them to "The Bachelor" and "Monday Night Football."

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The big picture: Governments around the world have stepped up public health and economic measures to stop the spread of the virus and soften the financial impact. In the U.S., now the site of the largest outbreak in the world, President Trump said Saturday he would issue a "strong" travel advisory for New York, New Jersey and parts of Connecticut.

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