| | | Date: Jun 11, 2011 | | Source: The Daily Star |  |  |  |
| | Erdogan accuses Syrian regime of atrocity: report |
ANKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the Syrian regime of perpetrating an "atrocity" against anti-government demonstrators, the Anatolia news agency reported Friday.
"I talked to Mr. Assad (Syrian President Bashar al-Assad) four or five days ago. ... But they underestimate the situation," Erdogan told Anatolia.
"Unfortunately they do not behave humanely," Erdogan said, describing the treatment of the bodies of women slain by the security forces as an "atrocity".
He also said the brutal crackdown on protesters was "unacceptable" and leads the UN Security Council to step in "necessarily."
"Upon all these we cannot insist on (defending) Syria," Anatolia quoted him as saying.
Erdogan has piled pressure on Assad, a personal friend, to initiate reform but stopped short of calling for his departure.
Erdogan reiterated that his country would keep the doors open for refugee waves from Syria, but asked, "How far this will continue?" Anatolia reported.
The number of Syrians who have fled to Turkey fearing bloodshed in their country increased to 2,500 on Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.
Another 495 more refugees arrived in Karbeyaz town in the border province of Hatay later Thursday, Anatolia reported.
The arrivals have sharply increased since Tuesday, with most refugees fleeing the flashpoint town of Jisr al-Shughur, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Turkish border, where tensions have flared amid accusations by Damascus that protesters killed 120 policemen.
More than 1,100 civilians have been killed and at least 10,000 arrested in a brutal crackdown on almost daily anti-regime demonstrations in Syria since March 15, rights organisations say.
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