Syrian envoy due in Turkey
The once-close relationship between the neighbours appears close to breaking point as thousands of Syrians have fled to Turkey to escape a fierce crackdown by President Bashar al-Assad's security forces.
State-run Anatolian news agency said Assad's envoy, Hassan Turkmani, was due to arrive in Ankara, where he will face Turkish impatience over Syria's repressive tactics and slowness to reform, as well as anger over a burgeoning humanitarian crisis.
As of Wednesday morning, some 8,500 Syrian refugees were lodged in tented camps on Turkey's side of the border. More have been arriving by the day.
Assad asked to send an emissary when he called Erdogan on Tuesday to congratulate him on winning a third term in office.
Erdogan, who had a close rapport with Assad, had said before his re-election that, once the election was over, he would be talking to Assad in a "very different manners", and expressed revulsion over repression being used against the Syrian people.
A Turkish official said the Turkish leadership would probably give Assad's emissary the same message.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was travelling to Hatay province, where tent camps have been established for the Syrian refugees. After gathering first-hand information, he was due to meet Turkmani back in Ankara on Wednesday evening.
Refugee camps have been established in Turkey's Hatay province, across from the Syrian city of Jisr al-Shughour, just 20 km (13 miles) from the border, where Assad's army launched an offensive on Friday to quell anti-government protests.
A Reuters reporter in Yayladagi, a town where one of the camps has been established, saw scores of Syrian children inside the camp chanting "Allahu Akbar, Erdogan" and "People want the fall of the regime. Freedom, Freedom".
Media have been barred from entering the camps by Turkish authorities, who say any pictures of the Syrians could put them or their families in danger back home.
In Tuesday's call, Erdogan told Assad to avoid using violence against his people and advised him that reforms should be undertaken as soon as possible, Anatolian reported.
Erdogan also raised concern over protests outside Turkey's embassy in Damascus.
The Turkish English-language newspaper Today's Zaman reported that some 2,000 demonstrators marched to the Turkish embassy in Damascus on Sunday and tried to hoist a Syrian flag.
Erdogan and Assad have worked to boost cooperation and trade between their two countries, which almost went to war in 1998 due to Syria harbouring Kurdish militants. Turkey vies with Iran for influence in Damascus.
Copyright Reuters, 2011