Turkey
has
warned
Iran
"not to spoil" the Syrian leadership whose security forces have been
cracking down on protesters since mid-March, a Turkish daily quoted Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying Friday.
Erdogan told the daily Hurriyet, "I cannot say there has been tension with
Iran
but
we warned them [the Iranians] that 'the Assad administration is getting spoiled
with your encouragement.'"
Erdogan said he had discussed the matter with Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad.
"Later he sent an envoy. We talked with him too. There has been a change
in their approach," Erdogan said.
Turkey
has
expressed frustration with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his iron-fisted
regime for failing to listen to the people, whose almost daily demonstrations
for democracy have been met with violent repression, at a cost of more than
2,600 lives according to the United Nations.
Iran
is
concerned over the possible collapse of its principle ally in the
Middle
East
and has never condemned
Syria
for
the violence while suppressing mass protests, as it has supported similar
protests in other Arab countries.
Tehran
accuses its traditional foes
Israel
and
the United States of stirring up trouble in
Syria
.
Erdogan said he would dispatch intelligence chief Hakan Fidan to
Iran
to
discuss the developments in
Syria
,
adding that he may meet with Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of the annual UN
General Assembly meetings next week.
"I
might also go [to Iran] later," he said.