Turkey has announced a series of sanctions on Syria over its violent crackdown on protesters.
The Arab League imposed far-reaching sanctions on Syria at the weekend after Damascus refused to permit monitors to enter the country and oversee implementation of an Arab plan designed to defuse the country’s eight-month crisis.
Speaking this morning, Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Syrian president Bashar Assad has wrongly ignored calls from the international community to stop its bloody crackdown on protesters.
He announced the sanctions against Syria, which include suspending a joint cooperation mechanism and imposing a travel ban.
“Every bullet fired, every bombed mosque has eliminated the legitimacy of the Syrian leadership and has widened the gap between us,” Mr Davutoglu said.
“Syria has squandered the last chance that it was given.”
Mr Davutoglu said Syria “has entered a vicious circle of violence” despite warnings from Turkey.
“Syria must immediately cease using force on the people and the forces must immediately withdraw from the cities,” Mr Davutoglu said.
Measures include a freeze on the assets of Syrians involved in the government’s crackdown on protesters, a suspension of ties with Syria’s central bank and a ban on all military sales to the country.
The United Nations says that at least 3,500 people have been killed in the violence.
AP