E.U puts in news set of sanctions against Syria after Turkey saed it has intercepted an arms shipment at sea destined for the protest-wracked country after another day of deadly demonstrations.
The new measures are the seventh set of E.U. sanctions imposed to punish the regime of President Bashar al-Assad for its relentless crackdown on dissent that erupted in mid March.
Earlier this month, the E.U. adopted a ban on Syrian crude oil imports.
That is expected to hit hard, as the E.U. buys 95 percent of Syrian oil exports, providing a third of the regime’s hard currency earnings.
“Turkey has arrested a ship flying the Syrian flag and carrying weapons,” it quoted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as telling reporters in New York, where he attended the U.N. General Assembly.
The Turkish leader lashed out at Assad last week, telling him the era of oppressive dictators was past.
Anatolia quoted Erdogan as saying “We have already made a decision to stop and prevent any vehicle carrying any type of weapon to Syria. We told them our decision as well as shared it with neighboring countries,”
After long maintaining close relations with its neighbor, Turkey has adopted a tougher stance towards Assad, urging him to end a military crackdown on a popular uprising and to launch democratic reforms.
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