Islam Times - Turkey announces sanctions on Syria

Islam Times - The Turkish foreign minister says Ankara will go ahead and slap economic and financial sanctions on Syria over its dealing with the ongoing unrest in the country.

Ahmet Davutoglu announced the nine-article sanctions during a press conference in the Turkish capital on Wednesday.

According to Davutoglu, Ankara will cut off its financial transactions with the Syrian government and central bank and freeze Syrian government assets in Turkey.

The minister added that some of the top Syrian officials will not be allowed to travel to Turkey and their assets will be frozen.

Davutoglu said that the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has failed to address calls from the international community to stop what the minister called “bloody crackdown” on protesters.

The sanctions come as some top Turkish lawmakers and politicians have warned that the sanctions would also damage Turkey's economy.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March, with demonstrations being held both against and in favor of President Bashar al-Assad. Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed in the turmoil.

The opposition and Western countries accuse Syrian security forces of being behind the killings in the country, but Damascus blames what it describes as outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups for the deadly violence, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.

President Assad has warned against any foreign attack against Syria, saying the military action will cause instability in the whole Middle East.