REUTERS

ANKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad his government was on a "knife-edge" and demanded an immediate apology after attacks on Turkey's diplomatic missions in Syria.

"Nobody now expects the (Syrian) people's demands to be met. We all want the Syrian administration, which is now on a knife-edge, to turn back from the edge of the cliff," Erdogan told a party meeting.

Non-Arab Turkey, after long courting Assad, has lost patience with its neighbor's failure to end an eight-month crackdown and implement promised democratic reforms.
Turkey now hosts the main Syrian opposition and has given refuge to defecting Syrian soldiers. On Tuesday, Erdogan praised an Arab League decision to suspend Syria.

Underlining how much ties between the two powers have deteriorated, protesters armed with sticks and stones attacked Turkish diplomatic missions in Syria over the weekend, burning the Turkish red and white flag.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem apologized on Monday for the attacks, which also included raids on Saudi and French missions. But Erdogan said Turkey expected a further expression of apology although he did not elaborate.
"I once again strongly condemn the attacks on Turkish officials and on the Turkish flag. We expect the Syrian administration to undertake immediately all the necessary steps to apologies and take responsibility," Erdogan said.

"Bashar, you are required to punish those who attacked the Turkish flag. We want the Syrian administration to not only respect the Turks in Turkey and the Turkish flag but also to respect their own people, we especially want this."