Ankara prepares to penalize Syria

Turkey's sanctions against Syria, which is likely to be announced in early October, will be as comprehensive as possible and will be shaped so as not to hurt the country's people, Turkish officials have suggested. The measures they highlighted focused on those dealing with bilateral economic, military, political and banking ties. The expected sanctions will come following an arms embargo against defiant President Bashar al-Assad's administration that aims at weakening his dictatorial rule. "This process of ousting al-Assad might be extended a little bit more but sooner or later in Syria, if the people make a different decision, that decision is going to be catered to. As in Egypt, as in Tunisia, as in Libya: People want to be free," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an interview with CNN International in New York over the weekend. "If you're going to act against fundamental rights and liberties, and the law, you will lose your position in my heart as my brother and my friend," Erdogan said, referring to al-Assad. "I was very patient. Patience, patience, patience... And then I cracked." Turkey's first sanction was the seizure of a ship carrying weapons to Syria. "Turkey has detained a ship flying the Syrian flag and carrying weapons," Erdogan said Saturday in New York.