Turkey cautiously praises Syrian tank withdrawal

Turkey yesterday welcomed the pullout of Syrian tanks from Hama as a direct outcome of its pressure on Damascus, but remained cautious and urged more steps within two weeks to ease the turmoil. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkish Ambassador to Syria Omer Onhon witnessed tanks and security forces leaving Hama following six-plus hours of talks between Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus on Tuesday. "This is very important, as it shows that our initiative has produced a positive result," said Erdogan. "We hope that things are fully completed within a period of 10-15 days and steps are taken on Syria's reform process. We will continue to closely monitor developments in Syria and watch for the issues that we discussed with Assad." Erdogan added that Ankara's pressure is motivated by its commitment to promoting democracy in the region.