Turkey Imposes Sanctions on Syria

Today Turkey’s Foreign Minister announced that Turkey would “suspend all financial dealings with Syria and freeze the assets of Bashar al-Assad‘s government as part of sanctions against its former ally.” The sanctions are designed to target the Syrian leadership and ”all those responsible for violence against civilians, and businesses close to President Assad, were banned from travelling to Turkey, and their assets there would be frozen.”

Stating that the Assad Regime “had come to the end of the road” and that “Syria has squandered the last chance that it was given.” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also vowed to “block the delivery of all weapons and military equipment to Syria.” Davutoglu stressed that while Turkey was against military intervention “if the oppression continues, Turkey is ready for any scenario.”  Turkey, which shares a 900km border with Syria “fears an exodus of Syrians if violence worsens, and border states might have to create a buffer zone to cope with masses of refugees.” It is expected that considering Turkey’s place as a major trading partner of Syria, “the sudden loss of Turkish business will be a heavy blow to the business sector, particularly in the larger cities and in the northern part of Syria, along the Turkish border.”