Egypt and Turkey Take Turns Blasting Syrian President - East Idaho News
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Egypt and Turkey Take Turns Blasting Syrian President

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GETTY W 062512 EgyptMorsi?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1346923724217AFP/Getty Images(CAIRO) — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad got a one-two punch Wednesday at a meeting of the Arab League in Cairo Wednesday.

Already outspoken in his criticism of al-Assad for the 18-month government crackdown on pro-democratic forces, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said that the only way to end the violent conflict that has cost tens of thousands of lives is for the Syrian president to step down.

Morsi, who made the same demand at a summit in Tehran, Iran, last week, said it is now time for “change and not wasting time speaking of reform.”

Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made his sharpest remarks yet against al-Assad’s regime, alleging that Syria has been reduced to a “terrorist state” that is now conducting wholesale massacres against its own people.

Erdogan also expressed his frustration with the international community for failing to do more to resolve the civil war that began in March 2011 while admitting his own government does not “have the luxury to remain indifferent” to what is happening next door.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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