Arab states, Turkey plan 'No-Fly Zone' over Syria
Senior European sources said that Arab jet fighters, and possibly Turkish warplanes, backed by American logistic support will implement a no fly zone in Syria's skies, after the Arab League will issue a decision, under its Charter, calling for the protection of Syrian civilians.
The sources told Kuwait's al Rai daily that the no fly ban will include a ban on the movement of Syrian military vehicles, including tanks, personnel carriers and artillery, adding that this move would aim at curbing the movement of Assad forces, and cripple their ability to bomb cities. The European sources said the no fly ban might lead to the paralysis of the Syrian regime forces "in less than 24 hours."
Meanwhile, it is reported that the leadership of the Turkish General Staff informed all the concerned parties with the Syrian issue its rejection of the idea that the Turkish army would launch any invasion to the Syrian territory including the area adjacent to the Turkish border to establish a "buffer zone" to protect civilians fleeing the violence.
Turkish PM calls on 'coward' Assad to quit
ANKARA — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday urged Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad to step down, branding him a coward and warning that he risked the same fate of dictators who met bloody deaths. In his fiercest criticism yet of his one-time ally, Erdogan also ridiculed Assad for pledging to fight to the death against domestic opponents while being unwilling to risk his life to retake the occupied Golan Heights from Israel. "Quit power before more blood is shed ... for the peace of your people, your region and your country," Erdogan told the Turkish parliament in Ankara.
After weeks of mounting criticism of the Syrian president, it was the first time the Turkish premier had directly called for his removal from power. He is the second leader of a neighbouring country to do so, after Jordan's King Abdullah last week called on Assad to go.
"Bashar al-Assad is saying he will fight to the death. Fighting your own people ... is not heroism but cowardice," Erdogan said, referring to a recent interview with Assad published by the Sunday Times in London. "If you want to see someone who fought and died, take at look at Nazi Germany, take a look at Hitler, take a look at Mussolini and Romania's Ceausescu," he said. Adolf Hitler died in his bunker as Allied forces closed in on Berlin, wartime Italian leader Benito Mussolini was strung up from a lamppost by an angry mob and Romanian communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was executed by firing squad on Christmas Day 1989.
If the Syrian leader had failed to learn lessons from history, Erdogan invited him to consider the more recent fate of Libya's late strongman Moamer Kadhafi who was executed by his opponents after being chased from power.
Erdogan also asked Assad why he failed to display the same fighting spirit to win back the Golan Heights, a rocky plateau which Israel captured from Syria during a war in 1967. The Jewish state unilaterally annexed the Golan in 1981. "You are talking about fighting to the death. Why didn't you fight to the death for the Golan Heights occupied by Israel?" said Erdogan...............