Indonesia, Iran in Agreement on Syria

The leaders of Indonesia and Iran on Friday spoke out against foreign intervention in settling the bloody two-year civil conflict in Syria.

In a statement following a bilateral meeting between Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the Bali Democracy Forum, the two heads of state agreed that the resolution to the conflict should rest with Syrians themselves.

“The two countries agreed that the political process in Syria must rest in the hands of the Syrian people, and the international community should provide room for that,” Yudhoyono said.

Neither leader mentioned the weapons reportedly being supplied to Syria by Iran.

Yudhoyono said the problems in the Middle East, especially the Syrian conflict, dominated the bilateral talks he had with Ahmadinejad.

Yudhoyono added that the two leaders deplored the lack of interest among the international community in helping to bring an end to the conflict in Syria.

“Whatever the country, they should care, but there are no signs that the conflict will end soon,” he said.

Ahmadinejad said the Syrian people needed to be the driving force behind achieving democracy. “Democracy cannot be forced onto them by any other countries,” Ahmadinejad said.

Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was also in Bali to attend the forum, said after a bilateral meeting with Yudhoyono that the violence in Syria should be halted as soon as possible so as to prevent the deaths of more civilians.

“Immediately bring a halt to the bloodshed and the fall of civilian victims,” Erdogan said,

Turkey has watched thousands of refugees flood across the Syrian border and into its territory.

“I ask that this conflict end so that there will not be larger waves of refugees,” Erdogan said.