Top Turkish Security Council says Syrian people must be protected

Turkey's top military council has said it is important to protect Syrian people and delivering humanitarian aid in the face of increasingly growing violence and bloodshed in its southern neighbor, calling on the international community not to remain indifferent to what it said "mass slaughter" in Syria. Turkey's National Security Council (MGK) said in a statement it released following a 5-hour meeting on Monday that the council reviewed latest developments in international forums with respect to the violence in Syria and welcomed UN General Assembly's decision to condemn Syria's embattled President Bashar al-Assad with overwhelming vote on Feb. 16. It added that the council also reviewed the conclusions of "Friends of Syria" conference in Tunis last week. The MGK members also asked the international community not to turn a blind eye to the killings in Syria in a veiled message to Russia and China – two countries who were successful in blocking UN Security Council resolution condemning Assad. The security council's another demand was to provide humanitarian aid to Syrian people. The statement also said members of the MGK discussed in some details the latest developments in the Middle East and North Africa, and particularly violence in Syria. The statement added that Turkey welcomes some progress in political transition process in Libya, Egypt and Yemen. The statement said Turkey, attaching importance to security and stability of Iraq, continues to closely monitor the developments in its southern neighbor, adding that the security council reiterated that there is a need to take tangible steps to end the presence of the terrorist PKK in northern Iraq. The statement noted that Turkey will continue fighting against terrorism with the "same determination," and that comprehensive efforts to root out sources of terrorism will continue without compromising from democracy, rule of law and universal values.