Turkey poised to slap sanctions on Syria

Turkey was likely to impose sanctions on Syria for its military crackdown on anti-regime protesters, the semi-official Anatolian News Agency reported. "Our work is complete and the sanctions are ready," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a news conference Tuesday, without saying when he would announce the sanctions, although the report said the sanctions would be announced Wednesday. He said Turkey, one of Syria's most important trading partners, would do nothing that would harm ordinary Syrians. Total trade between the two countries was $2.4 billion last year and, until Syria's uprising began, was forecast to rise 30 percent this year, The Wall Street Journal reported. Davutoglu gave no further details about the sanctions other than to say they would differ in "nuance" from Sunday's sanctions announced by the Arab League." The Arab League sanctions include a travel ban on top Syrian officials and a freeze on assets related to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime. Davutoglu told the news conference creating a military buffer zone inside Syria along the border with Turkey was "not on the agenda." Earlier in the day, he told Turkey's private Kanal 24 TV station such a buffer zone would be an option if tens of thousands of refugees pour over the border into Turkey. He said Turkey was "ready for all possible scenarios" in Syria but hadn't considered a military intervention and didn't want to. A Turkish newspaper reported Wednesday Turkey's largest petrochemical company, Tupra, ended a 17-year-old oil-purchase deal with Syrian government-controlled oil company, Sytrol. The newspaper said the deal was terminated this month.