ANKARA, Turkey -- Treated to a hero's welcome, Turkey's prime minister met Syrian refugees Sunday for the first time since his country opened its doors to tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing their government's crackdown on a popular uprising.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to defend the rights of the Syrian people, saying they were close to achieving success. He was greeted by joyous Syrians at the largest refugee camp near the border.
Erdogan has urged Syrian President Bashar Assad to quit and has encouraged the Syrian opposition to unify and present a credible political alternative. His visit to the border region comes before a parliamentary election in neighboring Syria, where the government's heavy-handed reaction to civilian protests more than a year ago is threatening to spawn a full-scale militarized conflict.
"Bashar is losing blood day by day," Erdogan said in an address to thousands of joyous Syrians at the camp near the town of Kilis. "Sooner or later, those who have oppressed our Syrian brothers will be accounted for before their nation. Your victory is close."
Many refugees used their mobile phones to film or took pictures of Erdogan, who addressed the crowd from the top of a bus as snipers stood on rooftops. The camp, housing more than 9,500 refugees, came under cross border fire by Syrian forces last month in an incident that left two refugees dead.
It is the most organized and well-equipped camp: refugees stay in white temporary housing units instead of tents as in nine other camps along the border. It looks like a small town with wide streets, soup kitchens, a health clinic and even a makeshift barber shop. A mosque with a minaret is located just outside the camp.
Erdogan assured the refugees that they are Turkey's guests until they decide to return home in safety, as the refugees burst into applause. Erdogan thanked them with a few words in Arabic.
Turkey hosts around 23,000 Syrian refugees who have fled Assad's crackdown, which is estimated to have left more than 9,000 people dead.
Before visiting the camp on Sunday, Erdogan said: "Until the will of the Syrian people comes to power, we will continue to defend our brothers rights there and welcome our brothers who come here with open arms. Inshallah (with God's will) these gloomy days will be overcome."
The Syrian regime has portrayed Monday's vote as a sign of its willingness to carry out reforms, but Syrian opposition leaders and activists are skeptical. A U.N.-brokered truce last month has failed to halt the violence in Syria.
Monday's election comes more than three weeks after an April 12 cease-fire aimed at paving the way for political talks between Assad and those trying to bring him down.
The truce, brokered by special envoy Kofi Annan, has failed to take hold, though U.N. observers say it's helped bring down the level of violence. Regime forces continue to attack opposition strongholds and carry out arrests, while refusing to withdraw troops and tanks from streets, as required by the Annan plan. Rebel fighters continue to target soldiers in shootings and bombings.
Turkey, NATO's biggest Muslim member, does not want to be seen as a bystander to atrocities on its doorstep, but it is also careful not to be dragged into the conflict. Turkey has been relentlessly calling for international consensus on Syria, which simply does not exist.
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Syrian policemen inspect the site of a car bomb explosion on Mazzeh highway in the capital Damascus on July 13, 2012. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read -/AFP/GettyImages)
U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice tweets:
| @ AmbassadorRice : #Syria regime turned artillery, tanks and helicopters on its own men & women. It unleashed knife-wielding shabiha gangs on its own children. |
Russia says international envoy Kofi Annan will visit Moscow on Monday to discuss the ongoing crisis in Syria. Russia also called for an inquiry into an alleged massacre that took place in the village of Tramseh on Thursday. "We have no doubt that this wrongdoing serves the interests of those powers that are not seeking peace but persistently seek to sow the seeds of interconfessional and civilian conflict on Syrian soil," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement, according to Reuters. Moscow did not apportion blame for the killings.
Read more on Reuters.com.
The Associated Press obtained a video that purports to show the aftermath of an alleged massacre in the village of Tramseh, near Hama.
How do Syria's fighters get their arms? An overview put together by Reuters explains that there are three gateways to the country -- Lebanon, Turkey, and Iraq.
Syrian rebels are smuggling small arms into Syria through a network of land and sea routes involving cargo ships and trucks moving through Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq, maritime intelligence and Free Syrian Army (FSA) officers say. Western and regional powers deny any suggestion they are involved in gun running. Their interest in the sensitive border region lies rather in screening to ensure powerful weapons such as surface to air missiles do not find their way to Islamist or other militants.
Read the full report here.
This citizen journalism image made from video provided by Shaam News Network SNN, purports to show a victim wounded by violence that, according to anti-regime activists, was carried out by government forces in Tremseh, Syria about 15 kilometers (nine miles) northwest of the central city of Hama, Thursday, July 12, 2012. The accounts, some of which claim more than 200 people were killed in the violence Thursday, could not be independently confirmed, but would mark the latest in a string of brutal offensives by Syrian forces attempting to crush the rebellion. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network, SNN)
This citizen journalism image made from video provided by Shaam News Network SNN, purports to show a man mourning a victim killed by violence that, according to anti-regime activists, was carried out by government forces in Tremseh, Syria about 15 kilometers (nine miles) northwest of the central city of Hama, Thursday, July 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network, SNN)
According to the Hama Revolutionary Council, a Syrian opposition group, more than 220 people have been killed in a new alleged massacre in Taramseh. Earlier reports said more than 100 people were killed. "More than 220 people fell today in Taramseh," the Council said in a statement. "They died from bombardment by tanks and helicopters, artillery shelling and summary executions."
Fadi Sameh, an opposition activist from Taramseh, told Reuters he had left the town before the reported massacre but was in touch with residents. "It appears that Alawite militiamen from surrounding villages descended on Taramseh after its rebel defenders pulled out, and started killing the people. Whole houses have been destroyed and burned from the shelling," Sameh claimed.
Read more on Reuters.com.
Syrian activist Rami Jarrah tweets that Syrian State TV has confirmed deaths in Tremseh. "Terrorists" is often the term used by the Syrian regime for opposition forces.
| @ AlexanderPageSY : Syrian State TV: clashes between security apparatus & terrorists in #Tremseh of #Hama leaves large numbers of terrorists killed #Syria |
| @ Reuters : UPDATE: DEATH TOLL IN SYRIAN FORCES' ATTACK ON VILLAGE IN SYRIA'S HAMA REGION IS MORE THAN 200, MOSTLY CIVILIANS - OPPOSITION ACTIVISTS |
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| @ Reuters : At least 100 killed in Syrian village: opposition activists http://t.co/FG3fJwu8 |
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By SELCAN HACAOGLU 05/06/12 11:32 AM ET