Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that his government is soon to announce sanctions against neighbouring Syria. “We can no longer remain spectator to the developments in Syria. There are serious deaths of innocent, defenceless people. We cannot say ‘this should continue’,” Erdogan was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency. The prime minister, whose remarks came on an official visit to South Africa, said he would this weekend or next week visit the camps of Hatay, near the Syrian border, where thousands of Syrians have taken refuge. “We’ll announce a roadmap regarding sanctions after a visit to Hatay,” said Erdogan. “We have already partially announced certain steps that cannot wait any longer,” he added. Turkey has expressed frustration with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for failing to listen to the people, whose almost daily pro-democracy rallies have been met with violent repression, at a cost of more than 2,600 lives according to the UN. Last month, Turkey stopped a shipload of weapons destined for Syria.
