STATEMENT ON THE ESCALATION IN TENSION BETWEEN SYRIA AND TURKEY

The Department of Foreign Affairs has noted with concern the current increase in tension between Turkey and Syria.

Calling on both countries to exercise restraint, the Department expressed a strong desire to see the two parties resolve their differences through peaceful means and dialogue.

To this effect, the Department welcomed the ongoing international efforts, particularly the initiative by Egypt, to defuse the tension between the two countries.

The Department of Foreign Affairs stressed that any escalation of tension was not in the interest of the peoples of the region or of peace in the Middle East as a whole.

ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRETORIA 14 OCTOBER 1998