At the meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe dated 27 March 2014, the Permanent Representative of Armenia uttered a shameful slander and a baseless allegation that elements of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization entrenched in Turkey were attacking Syria's Latakia/Kesab region. Our Permanent Representative, replying to demonstrate the unfoundedness of these allegations, emphasized Turkey’s continuing aid to civilians affected by the war in Syria and underlining that Turkey was the country most afflicted by terrorism stemming from Syria.

While in that debate, the attack perpetrated in Reyhanlı on 11 May 2013 was cited among instances where Turkey was targeted by the al-Qaeda terrorist organization, afterwards the Permanent Representation clarified by a Statement that, in fact, our security authorities had revealed that this attack had been carried out by terrorist groups supported by the regime in Syria and that findings regarding the way the attack was executed and its perpetrators was shared with the public. The statement also emphasized that the information provided by our security authorities is still valid.

There is no doubt whatsoever that the Reyhanlı attack was carried out with the support of the Syrian regime. Hence, all reports, declarations and attempts aimed at creating the impression that there are contradictions among the statements by different government authorities are completely groundless.