Turkey, US dismiss Seymour Hersh report. --White House statement confirmed the Syrian regime was behind the August 21 attack

The Turkish government has strictly ruled out Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh’s claims that Ankara was behind the August 21 chemical weapons attack in Syria, while particularly referring to an earlier statement of denial on the issue by the White House.

“It is completely lie and slander,” Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç said late on April 7 in response to a question at a press conference held after a Cabinet meeting. Arınç, also the spokesperson for the government, rushed to respond the question when he noticed that it referred to Hersh’s report, without even waiting for the journalist to finish her question sentence.

Apparently prepared for the question, Arınç said he would like to read a statement on the issue which he received from the Turkish Foreign Ministry. “It is definitely not true,” Arınç quoted the statement which referred to a White House statement which was issued earlier.

Arınç cited the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s statement as underlining that, in addition to denying the claims by Hersh, the White House statement has actually confirmed the Syrian regime was behind the August 21 attack. The report is solely based on information and hearsays the sources of which could not be named by Hersh, Arınç added.

Earlier, the White House had reacted. “We have seen Mr. Hersh’s latest story, which is based solely on information from unnamed sources and which reaches conclusions about the Aug. 21, 2013 chemical weapons attack in Syria that are completely off-base,” National Security Council (NSC) Spokesperson Caitlin Hayden said April 6...........[hurriyetdailynews.com]
7/4/14
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