Turkey said on Wednesday it would impose sanctions on Syria despite the blocking of any UN measures against President Bashar al-Assad for his crackdown on dissent. Russia and China handed Assad a diplomatic victory on Tuesday by vetoing a Western-backed UN resolution that could have led to UN sanctions on Damascus, but Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan promised action of his own.
"Naturally the veto...cannot prevent sanctions," Erdogan said. "We will of necessity implement a package of sanctions." Erdogan, who is visiting South Africa, has said he will announce the package after he visits a Syrian refugee camp in Turkey in the next few days.
The double veto by Moscow and Beijing infuriated Western powers which have already imposed their own sanctions on Syria and were trying to pave the way for a UN embargo, and will reinforce Assad's hold on power - at least in the short term. "This is a sad day for the Syrian people. It's a sad day for the Security Council," France's Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said.
Germany also expressed disappointment. A government spokesman said the draft resolution would have been an important signal of support for many Syrians "who for months have been taking to the streets for political freedom". Syria's state news agency SANA said Damascus welcomed the veto. "It restores hope for a balanced world ... after a long time of American and European domination which turned the Security Council's resolutions into a tool for punishing defenders of independence and liberation," SANA said. The draft resolution received nine votes in favour and four abstentions. US Ambassador Susan Rice said Washington was outraged and called for "tough targeted sanctions" on Damascus.
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