Syria issues travel warning for Turkey over anti-govt. protests

Syria has asked its citizens to avoid travelling to neighboring Turkey following violent anti-government protests in the country.

In a statement broadcast on Sunday on the Syrian state television, the Foreign Ministry said it advised Syrians “against travel to Turkey for the time being for their own safety, because of the deteriorating security situation in several Turkish cities… and the violence of Erdogan’s government against peaceful protesters.”

Since Friday, tens of thousands of Turkish protesters have held demonstrations against the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Mugla, Antalya, and many other cities and towns.

On Sunday, about 10,000 demonstrators, many waving flags and chanting “victory, victory, victory,” gathered in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, demanded that Erdogan resign.

On the same day, some 7,000 people held a demonstration in the capital Ankara that turned violent, with protesters throwing fire bombs and police firing teargas. Several protesters have denounced Erdogan as a dictator and fascist.

On Saturday night, about 5,000 protesters surrounded Erdogan’s office in Istanbul’s Besiktas municipality, located on the European shore of the strait of Bosphorus, and threw stones, injuring at least seven policemen.

Special police forces used teargas and water cannons to disperse the demonstrators.

On Saturday, Syria called on Erdogan to halt repressing protesters or step aside.

“The demands of the Turkish people don’t deserve all this violence,” Syrian Information Minister Omran Zoabi said. “If Erdogan is unable to pursue non-violent means, he should resign.”

The Syria crisis began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.

Damascus says the West and its regional allies, such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, are supporting the militants.