However, Assad's regime is seemingly unperturbed by its growing isolation. An editorial published Tuesday in the ruling Baath Party's newspaper said the regime is hopeful that "Turkey and the Gulf Arab nations will 'quickly correct their stands'," the Associated Press reports.
The editorial was a reference to harsh criticism by Turkey's Prime Minister Erdoğan over the weekend, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News reported in an article published Sunday.
The outcome of Davutoğlu’s meeting with al-Assad will determine the course of Turkish policy vis-a-vis Syria, Turkish officials said, signaling that Ankara has come close to abandoning the Syrian president and considering international measures that may lead to his “Saddam-like” isolation.
“The process from now on will take shape according to the response [al-Assad] will give and the practices on the ground,” Erdoğan said Saturday. “Our patience is running thin… We do not see the Syria issue as an external one. It is an internal issue for us. We share a border of 850 kilometers, we have kinship, historical and cultural ties and … we cannot just watch what is happening there.”
At least 2,000 Syrians are estimated to have been killed in the uprising so far, including almost 400 members of the security forces. Some 300 Syrians have been killed in the past week alone – a fact that is revolting to many Muslims, since the deaths came during the first week of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
