Turkey Says Syria Guilty of Crime in Barring Aid

Syria is committing a crime by refusing aid for civilians affected by months of conflict, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Saturday, calling for an international response.

"We must defend international values ... while such atrocities continue," the Anatolia news agency quoted him as telling journalists in Istanbul.

"The fact that aid is prevented and access is refused to United Nations officials constitutes another crime," he said.

Accusing President Bashar Assad's regime of committing daily crimes against humanity, Davotoglu added, "The international community has the responsibility of sending the strongest message to Syria that this savagery must stop."

Davotoglu confirmed that Ankara was preparing to stage a new "Friends of Syria" conference, expected towards the end of March, following last month's meeting in Tunis.

The Turkish foreign minister had talks in Istanbul on Friday with representatives of the Syrian National Council, the main opposition grouping.

But a Turkish diplomat said the SNC did not request permission to set up an office to send weapons to fighters against the regime inside Syria.

SNC leader Burhan Ghalioun said Thursday that a new "military bureau" would coordinate the armed resistance and act as a conduit for foreign countries seeking to send arms.

Arab countries including regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia urged the international community to arm opposition fighters in Syria after ground troops launched an assault on a rebel-held district of the flashpoint city of Homs.

The army overran the neighborhood on Thursday after nearly a month of shelling but the regime has barred an aid convoy organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Society from entering.

Turkey, which shares a 910-kilometer border with Syria, broke its former alliance with Damascus over the regime's brutal crackdown on opposition protesters, which has left well over 7,500 people dead according to the United Nations.