Turkey evacuates families of its diplomats in Syria

Turkey evacuates families of its diplomats in Syria

Turkey has decided to evacuate the families of Turkish diplomatic staff from Syria after the Turkish embassy and consulates in Syria were attacked, Turkish semi- official Anatolia news agency reported Sunday.

A Turkish Airlines plane took off earlier Sunday to bring back the families of Turkish diplomats as well as nonessential staff due to the worsening security situation in Syria, the report said.

"The Turkish ambassador in Damascus and other diplomatic personnel will continue to remain on duty," Anatolia quoted the Turkish Foreign Ministry officials as saying.

Hundreds of Syrian government supporters attacked the Turkish embassy in Damascus on Saturday after the Arab League voted to suspend Syria's participation in its meetings and impose sanctions against the Syrian government for its alleged crackdown on protesters.

The protest outside the Turkish embassy started Saturday evening and lasted for one and a half hour, during which protestors chanted anti-Turkey slogans, hurled rocks at the embassy compound and tried to force their way in through the main gate.

The number of protestors quickly reached 1,000 before the Syrian police intervened.

The Turkish consulates in the Syrian cities of Aleppo and Latakia were also attacked Saturday. No diplomatic staff were hurt in the attacks, according to the report.

In Aleppo, demonstrators entered the consulate garden and tried to lower the Turkish flag, but were prevented from doing so by consulate officials, said the report.

A group of some 5,000 people gathered outside the Turkish honorary consulate in Latakia, some 330 kilometers north of Damascus on the Mediterranean coast, and broke windows and burned a Turkish flag, it said.

Fearing the Syrian violence could spill over the border if it develops a stronger dimension, Turkey has condemned Syria's repression of peaceful protests this year despite years of cultivating ties with the Syrian government, according to a report by Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News on Sunday.

Syrian opposition figures have met in Turkey's largest city Istanbul to forge a united front, the Syrian National Council, and Turkey has also given sanctuary to defected Syrian military officers, according to the report.

Editor: yan

English.news.cn   2011-11-13 22:45:46 FeedbackPrintRSS
ANKARA, Nov. 13 (Xinhua)