Arab League Secretary General Nabil Al-Arabi warned Saturday that the failure of a deal brokered by the Arab organization to end violence in Syria would be “catastrophic” for the country and region. “The failure of the Arab solution will have catastrophic consequences for the situation in Syria and the region,” he said while calling for an immediate end to the “bloodshed” in an Arab League statement. Arabi expressed his “deep regret and extreme concern at the continuation of violence in different regions of Syria, warning of the dangers of not achieving progress in implementing the Arab plan,” said the statement. He added the Arab League wanted to avoid such an outcome. The secretary general “called on the Syrian government to take immediate measures to implement the Arab plan, to which it committed itself,” the statement said. The Arab League deputy secretary general, Ahmed Ben Hilli, said President Bashar Al-Assad has two weeks to begin talks with the opposition, starting from the time his government agreed to the proposal. “But the violence should have stopped from the day they agreed to the plan,” he said. Britain's Daily Telegraph quoted Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Abdulfattah Ammura as saying “We will implement the Arab League agreement, every aspect of it.” Pressed on when Syria would fulfill the deal, he said: “We will see it very shortly, hopefully before Eid (Al-Adha).” Turkey steps up pressure on Syria In Istanbul, Turkey is hardening its stance against former ally Syria, laying the ground for Syrian dissidents, including army defectors, and readying to announce new measures against Damascus. “We cannot remain a mere bystander” to the developments unfolding in Syria, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in Berlin during an official visit on Wednesday. “We believe it is necessary to implement certain sanctions” against the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad, whose crackdown on protests has claimed more than 3,000 lives since mid-March, according to the United Nations, he said. Erdogan, however, did not elaborate on what kind of sanctions he was mulling against his former “friend” Bashar. Turkey had enjoyed good relations with its neighbor before the uprising began, holding joint cabinet meetings, abolishing visas and fostering trade. Erdogan had been expected to announce sanctions as early as October on a planned visit to Syrian refugee camps, but escalating Kurdish rebel attacks and a devastating earthquake which killed more than 600 in Turkey's east put them on hold.
