UN chief calls on Turkey, Syria for self control

The UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called upon Syria and Turkey to settle their current disputes through negotiations. He urged them to maintain self-control.

Spokesman for the UN Fred Eckhard said that the UN chief on Monday met with the ambassadors of Syria, Egypt, Lebanon and Morocco as well as the Arab League representative at the UN.

Earlier in the day, Annan met with the Turkish UN reporesentative, who delievered a letter on the issue to Annan from Turkish Foreign Minister Ismael Cem.

He added that the Arab ambassadors expressed to Annan their concern over the tension between Syria and Turkey. They stressed Syria's determination to find a diplomatic solution.

The UN spokesman stressed that the Arab ambassadors also rejected resorting to the use of force as means of settling disputes among countries.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Muhammad Khatami on Tuesday sent a message to Turkish President Suleiman Demirel relating to the crisis between Syria and Turkey.

In a statement he made in Tehran on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi said that he made a telephone call to Turkish Foreign Minister Ismael Cem in this respect. He explained that the Iranian ambassador to Turkey left Tehran for Ankara to deliver a message to President Demirel from President Khatami.