Turkey to press Syria to end bloodshed

Turkish foreign minister among foreign envoys in Damascus to tell Assad regime to stop killing protesters

Ahmet Davutoglu attends a news conference after his meeting with Jonas Gahr Stoere in Oslo
Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, will deliver a strong message to Damascus, the Turkish prime minister has said. Photograph: Stoyan Nenov/Reuters

The Syrian regime is facing a chorus of global reproach as envoys from Turkey, India, Brazil and South Africa head to Damascus to press President Bashar al-Assad to end the violent crackdown on a five-month-old uprising.

Tuesday's visit by the Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, was significant because Turkey had close ties to Damascus until recently. But Ankara has become increasingly critical of its neighbour over the bloodshed.

Davutoglu will deliver a strong message to Damascus, Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has said.

In Washington, US state department spokesman Mark Toner lauded the visit and said the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, had spoken to Davutoglu.

"They did talk about the situation in Syria, and we believe it's another opportunity to send yet another strong message to Assad that this crackdown on peaceful protesters cannot stand," Toner said.

India's ambassador to the UN, Hardeep Singh Puri, said his country's representative was scheduled to arrive in Damascus on Tuesday, joining counterparts from Brazil and South Africa for a meeting with Syria's foreign minister to appeal for an end to the crackdown and to introduce democratic reforms.

The Syrian regime has shown no signs of scaling back its crackdown despite Damascus's increasing diplomatic isolation. Even Saudi Arabia this week called for an end to the bloodshed in Syria, the first of several Arab countries to join the growing chorus against Assad.

The latest wave of bloodshed started a week ago, on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan, when tanks and snipers laid siege to Hama, a city in central Syria that has been a stronghold of protest.

The city is haunted by memories of the regime's tactics: In 1982, Assad's father and predecessor, Hafez, ordered the military to quell a rebellion by Syrian members of the Muslim Brotherhood movement there, sealing off Hama in an assault that killed between 10,000 and 25,000 people.

Since the start of Ramadan, more than 300 people have been killed in cities including Hama and Deir Ezzor, an oil-rich but largely impoverished region known for its heavily armed clans and tribes.

Syria has banned foreign media and had restricted local coverage that strays from the party line, which states the regime is fighting thugs and religious extremists who are acting out a foreign conspiracy.

More than 1,700 people have been killed since March, according to activists and human rights groups.

On Monday, Assad replaced his defence minister with the army chief of staff, saying General Ali Habib was being removed from his post because of health problems.

But some analysts said the general was unhappy with the crackdown.

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