WarSclerotic

Turkey issues ‘final word’ to Syria over c… JPost – Middle East.

    ANKARA – Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Monday told Bashar Assad military operations against civilians must end immediately and unconditionally, warning the Syrian president that these were Ankara’s “final words”.

“This is our final word to the Syrian authorities, our first expectation is that these operations stop immediately and unconditionally,” Davutoglu told a news conference.

“If these operations do not stop there will be nothing left to say about the steps that would be taken,” he said, without elaborating.

Turkish leaders, who once backed Assad, have repeatedly urged him to end violence and make reforms after street protests against his 11 years in power erupted five months ago.

This comes after state-run Anatolian news agency reported on August 12 that Turkish President Abdullah Gul had warned Syrian President Bashar Assad not to leave reforms until it is too late.

Part of a campaign of Turkish pressure on neighbor Syria, for whom Turkey has been an important ally, the warning, which came in the form of a letter, was delivered by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu when he visited Damascus to hold talks with Assad on August 9.

“I don’t want to see you looking back one day and regretting that what you have done was too little and too late,” Anatolian quoted Gul as writing in the letter, saying Turkish people were saddened by the bloodshed in Syria.

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