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Thu, Jun 20 2013

Turkey closes its embassy in Syria

Mon, Mar 26 2012 15:45 CET

byVOA News

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Turkey closes its embassy in Syria

Relatives mourn next to the bodies of people killed in Homs 
Photo: Reuters

Turkey has closed its embassy in Syria because of what Turkish officials say is a worsening security situation.

Turkey warned its citizens in Syria last week that it planned to suspend services at the embassy in Damascus and urged them to return home.

Turkey has become increasingly vocal in urging an end to the bloodshed in neighbouring Syria. About 17 000 Syrian refugees have poured across the border into Turkey to escape the fighting.

Turkey also hosts a Friends of Syria meeting next week, during which the United States plans to raise the issue of sending what it calls non-lethal aid to the Syrian rebels.

In Syria, pro-democracy activists say troops shelled the city of Homs Monday, setting a number of houses on fire. Homs is an opposition epicentre. One activist says the government is trying to destroy the city, Syria's third largest.

The United Nations says Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's violent crackdown against the opposition has killed more than 8000 people over the past year.

The government blames the violence on what it says are foreign-backed terrorists.

Source: VOA News

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