Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on opponents bears the hallmarks of war crimes and his violent repression is damaging the chances of a negotiated peace, Reuters cited Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as saying on Saturday. The comments by Syria's powerful neighbour indicated the latest violence had put Assad beyond redemption in Ankara's eyes, despite his once-close friendship with Turkey. "The Syrian regime is committing a crime against humanity every day," Davutoglu told a joint news conference with visiting Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi. "I am saying this clearly, after these many massacres and crimes, which have characteristics of war crimes, the Syrian regime closes all doors to dialogue." Ankara has been at the forefront of efforts to nuture the Syrian opposition since abandoning Assad, hosting the Syrian National Council and sheltering members of the Free Syrian Army. A report on the state-run Anatolian news agency website said Syrian troops backed by tanks had seized the village of Ain al-Beida, near the border with Turkey, in a pre-dawn assault on Saturday. Some wounded people had fled across the frontier for treatment, the agency said. Hours earlier at a meeting in Istanbul, SNC representatives pressed Davutoglu to provide immediate humanitarian assistance to people trapped by Assad's forces inside Syria. Turkey will host a meeting of the international community, mainly Arab countries and Western powers, in Istanbul later this month as a followup to the "Friends of Syria" meeting in Tunis in February.
