Turkey plans to take a new initiative with countries opposed to the Syrian government and its bloody crackdown on unrest, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, calling the China-Russia veto of the U.N. resolution on Syria as a "fiasco."
"We are going to start a new initiative with those countries that stand by the people, not the Syrian government. We are preparing this," Erdogan told a meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in Ankara.
"The process that occurred at the United Nations in relation to Syria is a fiasco for the civilized world," he was quoted by the Turkish media as saying.
China and Russia on Saturday vetoed an Arab-backed Security Council resolution that sought to condemn the Assad regime for its bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
Without naming any particular country, Erdogan said the vetoes gave a "green light" to the Syrian government to continue its military attacks on anti-government protesters.
"The U.N. Security Council has once again held captive the conscience of the international community. Possessing the power to veto is a great responsibility. Using this power gives a green light for the persecution to continue," Erdogan said.
His Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was expected to travel to the United States on Wednesday for talks with his U.S. counterpart Hillary Clinton.
Erdogan said Bashar al-Assad was following in the footsteps of his father, Hafez al-Assad, using violence against his own people, and warned that the Syrian President would certainly pay for the recent massacre in the city of Homs where nearly 300 people died.
He said Turkey had been urging Assad with utmost sincerity over the past nine years "to heal the wounds of the past, erase the traces of the Hama massacre [a scorched earth operation against the town of Hama by the Syrian Army in 1982 on orders of Hafez al-Assad, which resulted in at least 10,000 civilian casualties], and make peace with your own people and show the people of Syria that you are not following in your father's footsteps."
Erdogan said Assad shattered his hopes on introducing reforms by holding talks with the Opposition and renewed his call to the embattled Syrian leader to end his ongoing crackdown on anti-government protesters, warning him that "what goes around comes around."
"The path you are following is no good. This path has a dead end. I would like to recommend once again that you get off this path before shedding more blood," he said.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.