Turkish PM Denounces 'Attempted Genocide' in Syria
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday branded the massacre of 150 people in a central Syrian village as "attempted genocide" and said the regime was doomed.
"There is nothing more to be said about Syria," he said, speaking of the bloodshed in the village of Treimsa in Hama province, which activists said was bombarded by government forces.
According to a U.N. spokeswoman and an activist on the ground, more than 150 people perished. If confirmed, the toll would exceed that of a massacre at Houla on May 25, when government forces and allied militia were accused of killing at least 108 people.
"This inhuman massacre, this attempted genocide, are just early signs pointing to the demise of this regime," Erdogan told a meeting of his Justice and Development party in the north-western town of Kocaeli.
The Treimsa killings have triggered a global outcry against the regime of President Bashar Assad, with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon calling for urgent action to stop the bloodshed.
Erdogan said there were now more than 40,000 Syrian refugees sheltered in neighboring Turkey.
"All dictators are cowards ... sooner or later, these cruel despots will go and the people will want a settling of accounts," he said in comments aired on public television.
Erdogan, a one-time ally of Damascus, has previously called Assad "a bloody dictator" and called on him to step down.
Ankara has clashed with Damascus over the claimed downing of a Turkish warplane on June 22 by Syrian fire over the Mediterranean and the death of its two crew.
Turkey viewed the incident as a hostile act and took steps to fortify its border with Syria, though recently backed off somewhat, saying no traces of explosives were found on the wreckage after it was recovered.
Source: Agence France Presse
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