TURKEY: Hundreds of Turks protest what they say is U.S. 'interference' in neighbouring Syria

Record ID: 280340

  • Title: TURKEY: Hundreds of Turks protest what they say is U.S. 'interference' in neighbouring Syria
  • Date: 27th February 2012
  • Summary: MORE OF BORDER DEMONSTRATION WITH FLAGS AND PLACARDS WAVING / PROTESTER HOLDING MEGAPHONE
  • Embargoed: 13th March 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey, Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABH19FAN41N89QUBWTH2AN8XA1
  • Story Text: Around 700 Turks staged an anti-American demonstration on Sunday (February 26) in Turkey's Hatay province - a panhandle of territory jutting southeast towards Syria.
    The demonstration, organised by Turkey's leftist Freedom and Solidarity Party, denounced Washington's policies on Syria.
    Protesters carried banners urging the United States not to intervene in the conflict.
    "If there will be a transition and a reform process in Syria, Syrians must decide it," said protester Kemal Dema.
    "We believe Syrian people will decide their future, not the United States or any other enemy and definitely the United States will not win here," added fellow protester Cem Degan.
    The outside world has been powerless to restrain Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's drive to crush the 11-month-old revolt, which has the potential to slide into a sectarian conflict between Syria's Sunni Muslim majority and the president's minority Alawite sect.
    Unwilling to intervene militarily and unable to get the U.N. Security Council to act in the teeth of Russian and Chinese opposition, Western powers have imposed their own sanctions on Syria and backed an Arab League call for Assad to step down.
    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned on Sunday of the perils of any foreign intervention.
    At least 31 Syrian civilians and soldiers were killed on Sunday in fighting over Syria's future that coincided with a vote on a new constitution that could keep Assad in power until 2028.
    The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a military bombardment of opposition districts in Homs, now in its fourth week, had killed nine civilians, while rebel fighters had killed four soldiers in clashes in the city.
    The British-based Observatory said eight civilians and 10 members of the security forces were killed in violence elsewhere in Syria, scene of what has become an increasingly militarised revolt against four decades of Assad family rule.
    Voting was under way in the referendum on a new constitution, which Assad says will lead to a multi-party parliamentary election in three months, but his opponents see as a sick joke given Syria's turmoil.
    END
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