France, Turkey Vow to Press Ahead on Syria

President Barack Obama’s decision to seek congressional approval before taking military action in Syria elicited a range of responses internationally, with backers like France and Turkey expressing teeth-gritting determination to push ahead but others—notably Israel-questioning the American leader’s resolve.
The knock-on effect of Mr. Obama’s move was clear in France, which is an ally in the expected military mission. French President François Hollande spoke to Mr. Obama by phone after the announcement and reiterated that Paris was standing by Washington to help deter the regime of President Bashar al-Assad from using chemical weapons against rebel groups and civilians, a French official said.

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A man rides a horse past the ‘Iron Dome’ missile defense system as it is deployed on on Saturday amid rising tensions.

But Mr. Obama’s decision means any military action may not happen before several days—Congress is scheduled to return from its August recess only on Sept. 9, exposing Mr. Hollande to a tougher examination of his Syrian plans.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they opposed using force in Syria in a Saturday survey conducted by French polling agency BVA. Previous polls had showed a small majority of French people were in favor of a military intervention. Meanwhile, Jean-François Cope, head of the center-right UMP party, France’s main opposition force, criticized Mr. Hollande for keeping the opposition parties in the dark regarding his position and intentions in the Syrian conflict.
Under French laws, Mr. Hollande can engage force without preliminary parliamentary approval but must inform lawmakers within three days after an intervention. The French government has called for an emergency parliamentary sessions to debate the situation in Syria on Wednesday.

In Israel, President Obama’s move was received with deep skepticism. Analysts on Israeli television blasted Mr. Obama for making America appear weak in the region.
“There is concern that this will be seen in the region as the U.S. president hesitating to enforce his red lines and that will send the wrong messages to other regional powers,” said an Israeli official.
Senior ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have spoken out publicly in favor of U.S. intervention in response to the chemical attacks in Syria. Israel provided intelligence to Washington to support the case that the Syrian forces used chemical weapons, former defense and intelligence officials have said in recent days.
In Turkey, which has also called for military strikes against the Syrian regime, a government spokesman said Ankara would have preferred immediate action but was content that President Obama’s speech signaled a determination to act.
“We would have preferred no delay, but the will is clearly there and we respect the internal workings of U.S. democracy,” said a Turkish foreign ministry spokesman.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said that an intervention against Syria should be aimed at bringing an end to the rule of Mr. Assad and cautioned against limited strikes that could leave the regime in place.
“It can’t be a 24 hours hit-and-run. What matters is stopping the bloodshed in Syria and weakening the regime to the point where it gives up,” Mr. Erdogan told reporters at a reception in the presidential palace in the capital Ankara, according to the state run Anatolian news agency.
U.S. and French officials have said they were considering limited strikes in Syria to dissuade the Assad regime from using chemical weapons but not to change the balance of power in the war-torn country.
Saudi Arabia, seen as another proponent of tough action against the Assad regime, didn’t respond to Mr. Obama’s move late Saturday. The Arab League is due to meet Sunday.
In Europe, a number of EU member states including Italy and Greece have cautioned against any military action.
While the EU readily approved a host of sanctions on the Assad regime, including an energy embargo, it was deeply split on whether to send arms to the opposition. That debate, which ended in May when the U.K. and France nixed the extension of an EU arms embargo, led to bitter exchanges between some ministers.
Earlier this week, British Parliament rejected a motion that would have allowed the U.K. to take part in military action against Syria alongside the U.S. The vote was an embarrassing political setback for Prime Minister David Cameron, who had pushed to back the U.S. action.
Mr. Cameron on Saturday nonetheless reiterated his support, tweeting on his account: “I understand and support Barack Obama’s position on #Syria.”
The proposed military strike still faces stout opposition in key locales, something Mr. Obama’s move was unlikely to change.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has worked the phones with world leaders in recent days as her government called for a unified but cautious international response.
Her spokesman said she and Russian President Vladimir Putin—another vocal opponent of military intervention—agreed in a call on Thursday that the crisis in Syria could only be solved politically. And she told Mr. Obama that she believed the U.N. Security Council “must meet its responsibility” to respond to the attack. Mr. Putin earlier in the day called claims that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons “absolute nonsense” and said the evidence presented by the U.S. doesn’t justify military action.
With the backdrop of Ms. Merkel standing for re-election on Sept. 22, her government has expressed skepticism over a military strike and has called on the crisis to be addressed by the U.N. Security Council. Ms. Merkel’s opponents in the election campaign have gone farther, saying a military response would do more harm than good.
A German foreign ministry spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday evening in Berlin.
—Norman Laurence in Brussels, Anton Troianovski in Berlin and David Pearson in Paris contributed to this article.
Write to David Gauthier-Villars at David.Gauthier-Villars@wsj.com, Charles Levinson at charles.levinson@wsj.com and Joe Parkinson at joe.parkinson@wsj.com

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