Reply #5: NYT: Turkey seizes Syrian ship with weapons - PM Erdogan [View All]

[pampango]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15044314

He did not say where or when the vessel was stopped, but vowed to confiscate any arms shipments for Syria coming through Turkish waters or airspace.

Mr Erdogan has repeatedly criticised Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over his government's violent crackdown on street protesters. Last week, Mr Erdogan said the era of oppressive dictators was over.

"Turkey has arrested a ship flying the Syrian flag and carrying weapons," Mr Erdogan said in New York where he attended the UN General Assembly, Turkey's Anataolia news agency reports. "If in the future arms shipments (to Syria) are made by air or land, we will stop and seize them," he added.

News of this latest incident marks a hardening in relations between two formerly friendly countries, the BBC's Matthew Well in New York reports. Ankara has grown increasingly impatient with Damascus' refusal to discuss political reforms, our correspondent says.

Interesting that Turkey has gone from a friendly neighbor to one that is enforcing its own arms embargo in the course of this 5-month crackdown on protesters in Syria. It's amazing that Syrians are still demonstrating in such large numbers despite the deaths of over 2,000 (the equivalent of 30,000 in a country the size of the US) of them at the hands of the military and security forces.

Assad must be scratching his head trying to figure out what more he has to do to squash the demonstrations. Repression always worked for him (and for his father) in the past.