Turkey wants punitive action against Syria

Ankara, Aug 31: Turkish government on Friday favoured a US-led punitive action against Syrian government following alleged use of chemical weapons.

"The most right message (against the Syrian administration) could only be given with the most right reaction with best timing," reported Xinhua citing Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu who urged for a US-led action.

On Thursday, the British Parliament refused to authorise its government to take part in a potential military action against Syria, while Germany also signalled that it would not be part of such a military intervention.

Commenting on the British and German stances, Davutoglu said " These kinds of discussion and emergence of different voices are natural in democratic countries."

However, he said there would be a cost of absence of any penalty against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's administration over an alleged poison gas attack, which, according to activists, killed almost 1, 300 people near Damascus earlier this month.

Turkey, once an ally of Assad but now a leading voice urging his ouster, has reportedly provided Syrian rebel army leaders with sanctuary.

IANS