BICOM

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Syrian President Bashar Assad yesterday that military operations against civilians must end immediately and unconditionally, warning him that these were Ankara’s “final words”.

“This is our final word to the Syrian authorities, our first expectation is that these operations stop immediately and unconditionally. If these operations do not stop there will be nothing left to say about the steps that would be taken,” Davutoglu told a news conference without elaborating

Davutoglu’s statement comes just days after the Turkish Hurriyet newspaper reported that Turkey might consider cooperating with international powers in the event they decide to intervene militarily in Syria. According to the report, the Turkish FM made it clear to Assad that in the event that Syrian forces continue to act aggressively against demonstrators Syria will no longer be able to rely on friendship from Turkey. Turkish officials told Hurriyet,”Turkey had initially tried to convince its Western allies to grant Assad time to implement reforms eight months ago. We have been as friendly toward Syria as we could, but a regime that doesn’t listen to advice from its friend and neighbor cannot be a friend of Turkey’s.”