Turkey condemns assassination of Syrian Kurdish activist

Turkey condemned the assassination of Syrian Kurdish activist Mashaal Tammo who was killed on Friday in Syria's eastern Qamishli region, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement late Saturday. The Foreign Ministry said that Turkey felt deep sorrow over the assassination of Tammo on Friday and an attack on Syrian opposition figure Riyadh Seif. Turkey watches with concern and condemns all attacks designed to silence the Syrian opposition, the ministry said. A well informed Kurdish source from Syria Friday told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that unidentified gunmen opened fire at Tammo, his son and a member of the Kurdish Future Movement. Tammo died of his wounds after he was sent to hospital. A Kurdish activist group was quoted by the al-Arabiya TV as saying that "we hold the Syrian security service responsible for the killing." Tammo is a Kurdish human rights activist as well as spokesperson for the opposition Kurdish Future Movement in Syria. He is also a member of the Committee for Revival of the Civil Society. He had been arrested several times by the Syrian authorities over his political views and survived an assassination attempt last month.