End of Syria regime 'matter of time': Turkey minister

HELSINKI - Agence France-Presse

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu speaks during a news conference in Helsinki December 19, 2012. REUTERS/Kimmo Mantyla

The fall of the Syrian regime is "only a matter of time", Turkey's foreign minister said on Wednesday, calling on other countries to help make the transition period as brief as possible.

"It is clear that if a regime loses legitimacy and fights against its own people, that regime will lose that fight," Ahmet Davutoglu said at a press conference after meeting with his Finnish counterpart Erkki Tuomioja in Helsinki.

"As to timing: now we can be more sure than before... it is only a matter of time. But it is up to the international community how to make the transition as fast as possible... in order to prevent further disasters," he added.

The Turkish foreign minister said he was not in favour of international military intervention in the Syrian conflict, echoing the views of Tuomioja, who said he didn't think such a move was "on the table at all".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights puts the overall death toll from the 21-month uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime at more than 43,000 people, based on accounts from activists and medics on the ground.