Turkish National Security Council (MGK) strongly condemned alleged use of chemical attack near Damascus, in Syria, hours after Syrian activists accused President Bashar al-Assad's forces of launching a gas attack that killed hundreds of people on Wednesday, in what would, if confirmed, be by far the worst reported use of chemical arms in the two-year-old civil war, Todays Zaman newspaper reported.
A leading Syrian opposition figure said 1,300 people had been killed in attacks by Assad's forces around Damascus.
"Today's crimes are...not the first time the regime has used chemical weapons," George Sabra told a news conference in İstanbul. "But they constitute a significant turning point in the regime's operations ... This time it was for annihilation rather than terror."
The alleged chemical attack has come at a time when a UN chemical inspection team is in Damascus to look for evidence of any use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime during the civil war.
The MGK convened under chairmanship of President Gül late on Wednesday. Turkish Chief of General Staff, along with commanders of land forces, air forces and navy, attended the meeting to evaluate the unfolding crisis in Egypt, the security problems across Turkish-Syrian border and the recent alleged use of chemical attack in Syria.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other ministers also took part in the meeting. The National Intelligence Organization (MİT) informed the president, ministers and generals about the recent alleged use of chemical attack by presenting its intelligence reports regarding the attack.