Turkey's prime minister says the world must urgently "hear screams" from Syria and do something to stop the bloodshed Todayszaman reported
Recep Tayyip Erdogan says measures must be taken for the safety of energy supplies as well as global peace. Erdogan did not specify any possible actions.
He spoke Thursday at an international energy conference in Istanbul.
However, he is calling on the international community to be sensitive to the plight of Syrian people as much as they were to the uprising in oil-rich Libya. He says the Syrian conflict posed a global threat.
"No doubt, the problems both in Syria and in the Middle East in general are global problems," Erdogan said. "Therefore, we have to see the tragedy in the area, hear the screams and urgently take measures to stop the bloodshed for the safety of energy supplies as much as global peace and calm."
Erdogan said: "Syria may not be attracting attention as much as Libya because it has not enough oil."
"But I want to stress that those killed in Syria are as human as those killed in Libya," Erdoğan said.
Syrian President Bashar Assad's brutal repression of the 8-month-old Syrian uprising has left an estimated 3,500 dead and crippled the country's exports of heavy crude oil after the European Union banned oil imports from Syria.