Security forces killed at least 30 civilians on Tuesday in Syria, among them 17 in the eastern protest hub of Deir Ezzor, activists said.

"At least 15 people were killed in different parts of Deir Ezzor which has been raided by tanks and vehicles mounted with machine guns," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, quoting activists at the scene.

Turkey's foreign minister has left for Damascus to press the Syrian leadership into ending the violent crackdown of the five-month old uprising.

Ahmet Davutoglu's visit on Tuesday comes days after Turkey said its patience with its neighbor was running out. Envoys from India, Brazil and South Africa are also slated to arrive in Damascus on Tuesday to appeal for an end to the violence.

A Turkish court issued arrest warrants for seven active generals and admirals pending trial over an alleged plot to overthrow the Islamist-rooted government, Anatolia news agency said Monday.

The suspects included Generals Nusret Tasdeler, the head of the army's educational command and Ismail Hakki Pekin, the intelligence chief of the general staff, NTV news channel said.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat said Monday that he discussed with Turkish officials the situation in Lebanon, the events in Syria and the inter-Palestinian reconciliation.

In remarks to As Safir daily following his return from Turkey, Jumblat lauded the Turkish stance from all issues.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will visit Syria on Tuesday with the message that Ankara "has run out of patience" with the ongoing violence, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

"We have reached the end of our patience and that's why I am sending the foreign minister to Syria on Tuesday," Erdogan was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying.

Turkey's Supreme Military Council assigned new names for the army's top brass Thursday after the shock mass resignation of its highest command in a row with the government.

The acting chief of staff General Necdet Ozel became the new chief of staff and he will take up the post after the cabinet approves his promotion.

Turkey's Supreme Military Council began a crucial annual meeting Monday days after the shock mass resignation of the force's top brass, the Anatolia news agency reported.

The meeting, which reviews the promotion prospects of senior officers, opened under the direction of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but in the absence of former army chief Isik Kosaner who dramatically resigned on Friday.

Turkey is preparing to harden its attitude towards Israel for its refusal to apologize over last year's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, official sources said on Tuesday.

The Israeli government has to date failed to either say sorry or compensate families of the nine activists who were killed in May last year in a commando raid on the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish-owned ferry which was leading the convoy.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday it was "unthinkable" for Ankara to normalize relations with Israel until it apologized over its bloody raid on a Turkish ship heading for Gaza.

"As long as Israel does not apologies to Turkey, pay compensation to the families of the victims and lift its blockage on the Gaza strip, a normalization of relations is unthinkable," he said at the opening of a meeting of Palestinian ambassadors in Istanbul in the presence of President Mahmoud Abbas.

Turkey's prime minister said on Tuesday he was considering visiting the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, a move likely to anger Israel amid diplomatic efforts to overcome already strained bilateral ties.

"If the conditions allow, I'm thinking of visiting Gaza," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters. "The foreign ministry will be working on it. I wish to make such a visit, depending on the outcome."