Website reports Erdogan cutting ties with Assad

As the uprising against Syria's Assad regime continues, website Debkafile, said to be close to Israeli intelligence, this week suggested that Syrian President Bashar Assad's Arab and Muslim support is melting fast. According to the site, its intelligence sources report that Assad's second-most steadfast supporter after Iran, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, has secretly ordered government officials to immediately cut Ankara's ties with Damascus. This policy shift has taken form in three steps: 1. The following message was posted to Damascus on Tuesday: Turkey is not a member of the European Union and so is not bound by its freeze of Assad's assets or ban on him and his lieutenants travelling. Nonetheless, Assad is advised not to try and test its intentions by trying to visit Turkey. 2. Assad's repression of the uprising in the Kurdish regions of northern Syria is causing ferment among the Kurds of southern Turkey. Unless this stops immediately, Ankara will take action against the Syrian ruler. 3. Erdogan has discontinued his almost daily phone conversations with Assad. In any case, his advice to the Syrian ruler on how to address the uprising against him was never heeded.