Turkey's Davutoğlu decries 'crimes against humanity' by Syrian regime

ISTANBUL - The Associated Press

AP photo

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said the Syrian regime committed crimes against humanity "on a daily basis," and the UN had to take measures to stop it, which could include a possible arms delivery to the opposition.

Davutoğlu spoke today at a joint news conference with his Italian counterpart, Giulio Terzi. Both ministers criticized Syria for blocking a Red Cross convoy from delivering badly needed aid to a rebellious neighborhood in the central city of Homs.

"The incidents in Syria has turned into army regulars massacring their own people," Davutoğlu said. "The regime used live rounds only against protesters previously, now they are shelling civilian neighborhoods indiscriminately with artillery rounds. That is not acceptable even in case of war," he said.

Davutoğlu said not accepting UN observers into the country and blocking humanitarian aid constituted as other crimes committed by the regime. "That is why the firmest message should be given to the Syrian regime," Davutoğlu said.

That message could involve arming the Syrian opposition, Davutoğlu said as reported by daily Hürriyet.

Turkey says a lack of international consensus over Syria is emboldening the government there to proceed with a crackdown that has killed thousands of people.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu says the scale of the killing matches the bloodshed in the Balkans wars of the 1990s.