UN rights body to meet on Syria on Friday BEIRUT — Turkey slapped tough economic sanctions on Syria on Wednesday, freezing assets of officials involved in the government's crackdown on an 8-month-old uprising, suspending ties with the nation's central bank and banning all military sales. The move comes on top of sanctions already imposed by the Arab League, the United States and the European Union. Turkey is Syria's neighbor and an important trade partner, but its leaders have turned on Damascus because of its violent campaign to crush the revolt. “Every bullet fired, has eliminated the legitimacy of the Syrian leadership and has widened the gap between us,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a news conference in Ankara, Turkey. Davutoglu also said Wednesday that Turkey was imposing a travel ban and freezing the assets of “certain officials who are members of the main cadre of leaders, who are the subject of claims of exerting violence against the people or of resorting to illegitimate means.” “All shipment of arms and military equipment through Turkey's land, airspace and seas will be prevented,” he said. He said Ankara was suspending all ties to the Syrian Central Bank, freezing any Syrian government assets in Turkey and suspending any loan deals. Future dealing with the Syrian Trade Bank would be suspended, while current deals would continue.. Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Council will hold a special session on the situation in Syria on Friday following a request by the European Union, a diplomatic source said. “There will be a special session of the Council on the human rights situation in Syria on Friday,” the European diplomat told, adding that 28 countries had signed the call for the extraordinary session, the third this year. The move follows a report published Monday by The Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria gathered evidence from 33 witnesses and victims on the murder, and torture of anti-regime protesters since the crackdown.EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton called for a special session of the Human Rights Council along with the United States and several Arab countries.
