Assad's Government Negates Settlement of Syrian Civil War

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called Syrian President Bashar Assad "a person responsible for killing between 300,000 and 350,000 people."

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Syrian President Bashar Assad and his government are the primary roadblock to a resolution of the four-year Syrian civil war, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

"Nobody can foresee Syria’s future with Assad. It’s not possible to accept a person responsible for killing between 300,000 and 350,000 people, a dictator," Davutoglu was quoted as saying by the Daily Sabah newspaper on Sunday.

Turkey, along with many Western countries, have taken a hard line on Assad’s regime, saying that the Syrian president must be deposed in order to end almost half a decade of civil war.

Russia recognizes Assad as the legitimate authority in the country and has been working to solve the civil war in Syria. Moscow has been providing humanitarian aid to displaced people in the conflict-torn country and supplying military equipment to support the country's army in its fight against extremist groups.

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011. Government forces have been clashing with armed rebel groups, including Islamic State and the Nusra Front.