Turkey calls for immediate end to Syrian crackdown

The crackdown, which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has condemned as “savagery,” has tested relations between the two countries, and Turkey has given sanctuary to some 8,900 Syrian refugees who have streamed across the border.

“We want a strong, stable, prosperous Syria. To achieve this we believe it necessary to implement the comprehensive reform process towards democratization guaranteed by [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad,” Davutoğlu told reporters after three hours of talks with Syria's Hassan Turkmani on Thursday morning.

“In order to achieve this, the violence must stop immediately. Yesterday I clearly saw the fear in the eyes of the people and I shared this,” he added, describing talks with Turkmani as friendly and Syria as Turkey's “closest friend.”

Davutoğlu on Wednesday talked to refugees at the border, including wounded men in camp hospitals at Yayladağı, across from the Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughour, 20 kilometers away. Refugees chanted “People want freedom!” and “Erdoğan help us!”

On Thursday, Syrian tanks and armored vehicles reinforced positions around the northern town of Maarat al-Numaan.

Turkmani on Wednesday met Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has also called for rapid reform in Syria. Turkmani then said Syrian refugees staying in makeshift camps in Turkey's border province of Hatay would soon be returning to Syria.

Assad asked to send an emissary when he called Erdoğan on Tuesday to congratulate him on winning a third term in office.

On Thursday afternoon Davutoğlu was presiding over a high-level meeting with ambassadors abroad in order to make a comprehensive review of the Arab Spring.

Former advisor to Erdoğan, Nabi Avcı, said Turkey was dismayed by Syria's response to its requests that it refrain from using violence against civilians and undertake reforms.

“Turkey's efforts to bring about peaceful change in Syria will continue,” Avcı said in İstanbul.

“The response of the Syrian regime so far has been, unfortunately, unhelpful and disappointing,” said Avcı, elected a member of parliament for the ruling Justice and Development (AK Party) in Sunday's vote.

Asked about the possibility the Turkish military could enforce a buffer zone on Syrian territory to protect civilians, Avcı said Turkey had no plan for military intervention in Syria.

But he said Turkey has constantly reminded the Syrian government that intervention could become part of the international community's agenda, and urged Damascus to make rational choices.

“We are trying our best,” he said.

Preparations are being made for another influx of refugees far to the east along the 800-kilometer border, with more tent camps able to shelter 10,000 people being set up near the Turkish city of Mardin and the town of Nusaybin.

High-ranking Syrian soldiers and police are among those seeking refuge at the camps in Turkey, the Anatolia news agency reported. Most recently a lieutenant colonel and four other soldiers arrived in Hatay on Wednesday evening after deserting.

There were also increasing numbers of Syrians arriving at the border but remaining on the Syrian side in makeshift tents.

Anatolia, meanwhile, reported that all hotel rooms had been booked in Hatay ahead of the visit by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie.

Jolie has obtained the necessary permission to visit the tent cities from the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and will be in Hatay on Friday afternoon.

Sources told Anatolia on Thursday that Jolie would extend both moral and financial support to Syrian nationals living in the tent cities.

Jolie has visited refugees in about 20 countries in the past decade.

Dozens of local and international journalists have arrived in Hatay to cover the story of Jolie and the Syrians in tent cities.

Turkish police in Hatay are taking special security measures with the expectation that the province would be filled with hundreds of Jolie fans on Friday.