TURKEY: Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan calls an end to bloodshed in Syria

Record ID: 217434

  • Title: TURKEY: Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan calls an end to bloodshed in Syria
  • Date: 24th August 2011
  • Summary: OPENING CEREMONY OF HIGH SPEED RAIL LINE BETWEEN KONYA AND ANKARA
  • Embargoed: 8th September 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey, Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflict
  • Reuters ID: LVAA2HWQGQVGOTZ0TFQX3ARWR75K
  • Story Text: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan issued a stark warning to Syrian President Bashar Assad on Tuesday (August 23) by saying "those who seek prosperity by cruelty would be drowned in the blood they shed."
    Erdogan's criticism came as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad raided the countryside near the city of Hama, killing at least five people in assaults to subdue pro-democracy protests, local activists said, as a U.N. humanitarian team toured the country.
    Erdogan made a fresh call for an end to violence and said prosperity cannot be achieved by using cruel methods.
    "I want to see the bloodshed in Syria stop. One cannot achieve prosperity by cruelty. Those who aim to achieve prosperity through cruelty will drown in the blood they shed," Erdogan said.
    The United Nations says 2,200 people have been killed in Syria and its human rights council launched an investigation on Tuesday into the violence, including possible crimes against humanity, despite objections from Russia, China and Cuba.
    The bloodshed was wrought by Assad's crackdown on a five-month-old popular uprising which prompted the United States and European Union to widen sanctions against Syria last week and to call on the Syrian president to step aside.
    The fast-moving developments in the battle for Libya was also on Erdogan's mind.
    "We are also praying for Libya. Second by second, our brothers in Libya are approaching to the day they have been waiting for . I wish this aid al-adha will be a moment of peace, solidarity and unity for all brothers in Libya," Erdogan said.
    Triumphant rebels seized Muammar Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli on Tuesday after a fierce battle with a loyalist rearguard but there was no word on the fate of the Libyan leader who has vowed to fight "to the end".
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