Turkey Says Syria Risks Arab Isolation over Crackdown
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime will be isolated by the Arab world if it does not halt the deadly crackdown on its own people, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Wednesday.
"The cost for the Syrian administration of not fulfilling the promises it made to the Arab League is its isolation in the Arab world as well," Davutoglu said at a meeting with Arab League foreign ministers.
"The Syrian administration should read the messages given by the Arab League, immediately put an end to the violence against its own people and open the way for an inevitable transformation process," he added.
"It is not possible for any administration to win the fight against its own people.
"Time is ticking against the Syrian regime. All the credit and hands extended to Syria thus far have been wasted."
Turkey, once a close ally of Syria, has become increasingly outspoken in its criticism of Assad's regime since the Syrian uprising began.
"A future cannot be built on the blood of the innocent, otherwise history will remember those leaders as the ones who feed on blood," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday.
Turkey has already announced a halt to joint oil exploration with Syria and has threatened to cut electricity exports there.
The Arab League ministers' meeting in Rabat takes place on the sidelines of an Arab-Turkish cooperation forum, which Davutoglu was attending.
Source: Agence France Presse
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