Turkey calls Syria airstrikes 'late response’ to regime

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım on Sunday termed the U.S.-led airstrikes targeting the Assad regime's alleged chemical weapons facilities in Syria as a "positive" but "late response".

Speaking at the Sixth Ordinary Congress of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party in Istanbul's Tuzla district, Yıldırım said: "It is a late response to the regime and vile murderers, who caused the atrocity in the region."

However, he said it was still a "positive step," taken by three allied countries.

"The Syrian regime has been doing the same thing for seven years. The West suddenly remembered the suffering of people when chemical weapon was used," Yıldırım said.

Turkey will continue to protect civilians from all murderers bent on destroying and slaughtering people through conventional and chemical weapons, the premier added.

The U.S., U.K., and France launched airstrikes on the Assad regime's alleged chemical weapons facilities in Syria earlier on Saturday.

The strikes came after the Assad regime was accused of carrying out a chemical attack in Syria's Douma, which killed 78 civilians and injured hundreds of others.