Neighborly warnings – Senior aide to Turkish President Gul says foreign intervention will begin unless Syrian president heeds calls for change

Published 12:15 20.06.11
Turkey warns Assad: You have less than a week to start implementing reforms
Senior aide to Turkish President Gul says foreign intervention will begin unless Syrian president heeds calls for change.

A senior Turkish official warned Monday that Syrian President Bashar Assad has less than a week to start implementing long-promised political reforms demanded by Syrian protesters before foreign intervention begins.

Turkey, Syria’s biggest neighbor and main trading partner, has been trying to persuade Assad to halt a military crackdown on demonstrations that have killed more than 1,300 civilians and forced thousands to take refuge across the border.

Ersat Hurmuzlu, an advisor to Turkish President Abdullah Gul, told the Dubai-based al-Arabiya channel on Sunday night that Turkey will be watching closely what Assad tells his people in a planned speech on Monday.

“The demands in this field will be for a positive response to these issues within a short period that does not exceed a week,” Hurmuzulu said.

“The opposite of this, it would not be possible to offer any cover for the leadership in Syria because there is the danger …that we had always been afraid of, and that is foreign intervention.” …more