Syria 'will not relent', Assad tells Turkey

THE SYRIAN military continued operations against dissidents yesterday as Syrian president Bashar al-Assad held six hours of talks with Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who has been dispatched to Damascus to press for an end to the bloodshed.

Mr Assad told him, however, that Syria “will not relent in pursuing terrorist groups”.

Syrian tanks and troops maintained pressure on Deir al-Zor in the east, moved into Bennish in Idlib province on the Turkish border and conducted raids in villages around Hama, a Muslim Brotherhood stronghold.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 17 deaths in Deir al-Zor and four in Idlib.

During a press conference on his return to Turkey, Mr Davutoglu said his discussions with President Assad had been “frank and open”, but he confirmed there had been no meeting of minds. He said steps would be taken in the next few days “which will clarify the process” of bringing violence to an end and carrying out economic and political reforms. He did not describe these steps.

Mr Davutoglu rejected external military intervention, saying the “Syrian people will decide their own fate”. He appeared to tone down the tough talk of Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had said he lost patience with the Syrian government and expressed the view that unrest in Syria had become an internal issue in Turkey, where many citizens are sympathetic to Sunni protesters.

Turkey, which has an 8,500km (5,282-mile) border with Syria, is also concerned about trade and the presence of 7,500 Syrian refugees in camps on its territory.

Mr Davutoglu said he had represented Turkey alone – although it had been reported that he had been asked to deliver a message from US secretary of state Hillary Clinton calling for Syrian troops to return to barracks and the release of protesters arrested since the unrest began in mid-March.

Before travelling to Syria, Mr Davutoglu had warned that Dr Assad’s fate could mirror that of Libyan leader Muammar Gadafy if he did not stop “butchering his people”. But he told the press that harsh words had not been used during the meeting, which he said had been “friendly”.

Representatives of India, Brazil and South Africa were set to meet Syrian deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad to urge an immediate halt to military action against protesters.

The most influential Sunni religious authority, Sheikh al-Azhar Ahmad al-Tayeb, said: “Azhar has been patient for a long time and avoided talking about the situation in Syria because of its sensitive nature . . . but the situation has gone too far and there is no other solution but to put an end to this Arab and Islamic tragedy.”

The speaker of Iraq’s parliament, Usama al-Nujaifi, demanded a halt to the violence and condemned the suppression of freedom in Syria.

However, there has been no indication that the Syrian government is prepared to halt the crackdown.

Turkey has been increasingly critical of the Assad regime while Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain have withdrawn their ambassadors from Damascus.