Pro-democracy activists in Syria held a “day of anger” against Russia on Tuesday as a Western-led drive for UN sanctions over the regime’s deadly crackdown ran into new opposition from Moscow and Beijing. Demonstrators burned Russian flags in the flashpoint protest hubs of Homs in the centre and Daraa in the south in protest at Moscow’s support for President Bashar al-Assad, activists said.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that Syria could plunge into “civil war,” as he began in Egypt a tour of Arab countries where uprisings have ousted autocratic leaders. He expressed frustration with Assad’s regime, with which he had built up close ties, for failing to “listen to the voice of the people,” who have been demanding democracy in almost daily protests for six months.
“Do not support the killers,” activists urged Russia in a message announcing Tuesday’s action posted on The Syrian Revolution 2011, a Facebook page that has been a driving force behind the protest movement. “We express our anger towards Russia and the Russian government. The regime will disappear but the people will live,” the activists added.