Turkish Leader Holds Talks With Syria Envoy

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the Syrian regime to end the violence and draw up a timetable of reform.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has held talks with an envoy of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in an apparent bid to pressure the Syrian regime to end a bloody crackdown on opposition protesters.


Reports say Erdogan met for nearly three hours on June 15 with Assad envoy Hassan Turkmani.


No statement was released after the talks in the Turkish capital, Ankara, but Erdogan has previously called on Assad to end the violence and draw up a timetable of reform.


More than 8,500 refugees from the conflict in Syria are reported to have so far crossed into neighboring Turkey, amid an offensive by Syrian troops and tanks to crush the uprising against the Assad regime.


Thousands of other Syrians are reported seeking shelter near the Turkish border.


Rights groups say some 1,300 civilians are believed to have been killed since the start of the Syrian uprising in mid-March, and more than 300 soldiers and police are also reported to have been killed.


compiled from agency reports