The seat of the Foreign Minister of Syria is seen empty during a meeting for Arab foreign ministers Foreign ministers from the Arab League and Turkey will meet in Cairo Sunday to discuss how to react to Syria’s failure to respond to an ultimatum for an observer mission , Turkey said Friday.
Anatolia news agency Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu quoted him as saying at Ankara airport that he would be attending, adding that Turkey already had some measures in hand against Damascus.
“We are going to harmonize them with those prepared by the Arab League,” he added.
A deadline set by the Arab League for Syria to sign a deal allowing monitors into the country expired on Friday without any Syrian response but Arab governments will give Damascus until the end of the day to answer, an Arab source earlier said.
Arab foreign ministers had said in Cairo on Thursday that unless Syria agreed to let the monitors in to assess progress of an Arab League plan to end eight months of internal bloodshed, officials would consider imposing sanctions on Saturday.
“The deadline has already ended, but the Arab League leaves the door open for Syria to reply by the end of the day and if a positive Syrian response comes on Friday, then the Arab League has no objection to agreeing to it,“ the source said, according to AFP.
Turkish foreign minister earlier said the deadline was a last chance the Syrian regime had to solve the crisis.
“It is a last chance, a new chance for Syria,” Davutoglu told reporters in Istanbul in the final hours before the midday (1100 GMT) deadline.
A U.N. spokesman said on Friday the United Nations was ready to support a proposed Arab League peace monitoring mission to Syria.
The pan-Arab body said in a statement on Thursday it was urging the United Nations to take “necessary measures according to the U.N. charter to support the Arab League's effort to settle the complicated situation in Syria. ”
U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed what he called the league’s “proposal to send an observer mission to protect civilians in Syria" and strongly urged Damascus to give its "consent and full cooperation. ”
“As invited by the Arab League ... the secretary-general is ready to provide the support needed, ” Nesirky told reporters.
Russia, a traditional ally to Syria, had said on Friday that it opposed pressure and sanctions and wanted to see a renewal of political dialogue.
“At this stage, what we need is not resolutions, sanctions or pressure, but inter-Syrian dialogue,” foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told a televised press briefing.
Lukashevich also spoke cautiously about the French proposal for “humanitarian corridors” to alleviate suffering. “I think we will return to this question when more clarity emerges about what specifically is being discussed,” he said.
France became the first major power to seek international intervention when it called this week for “humanitarian corridors” to alleviate civilian suffering.
Russia urged China and other partners in the BRICS group of emerging economies to start talks with the opposition and warned against foreign intervention without U.N. backing,
In a carefully worded statement after consultations on Thursday in Moscow, the five nations did not mention the Arab League threat to introduce sanctions over Syria’s crackdown on protests if Damascus does not sign a deal to let monitors in.
The meeting brought together deputy foreign ministers from Russia and China, which last month vetoed a Western-drafted U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Syria's government, as well as Brazil, India and South Africa, which abstained.
They “underscored that the only acceptable scenario for resolving the internal crisis in Syria is the immediate start of peaceful talks with the participation of all sides, as the Arab League initiative says,” the Foreign Ministry statement said.
“Any external intervention that does not correspond with the United Nations Charter must be ruled out.”
Russia has close ties to Syria, which has been a big buyer of Russian weapons and hosts a Russian naval maintenance facility on the Mediterranean, a rare outpost abroad for the Russian military.
But Moscow has been increasingly isolated in its support for Assad. It has urged his government to implement reforms faster, but has rejected pressure from Syrian opposition groups to call for his resignation and has accused Western nations of trying to set the stage for armed intervention.
The United Nations says 3,500 people have been killed in Syria since March in clashes between the authorities and pro-democracy protesters.