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Leave Syria, Turkey advises

March 16, 2012

Turkey is telling its citizens to "return home" as clashes continue in Syria, with more protests following Friday prayers.

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Turkey is bearing the brunt from the influx of Syrian refugees: Turkey is suffering financially, März 2012
Image: DW/N. Carney

Turkey has issued a warning to its nationals in Syria to leave the country as the security situation continues to unravel.

"Developments in Syria pose serious security risks for our nationals," the foreign ministry said in a statement. "Therefore it is strongly recommended that Turkish nationals currently in Syria leave and return home."

The foreign ministry also stated that it would be paring down its diplomatic presence in Syria, halting services in Damascus as of next Thursday, but asserted that its consulate in Aleppo would remain open. Meanwhile, Turkey's government was mulling bringing its ambassador home.

"We are considering all options including the withdrawal of the ambassador from Syria," Prime Minister Reccep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters.

Ankara was also considering establishing a buffer zone along the shared border with Syria, Erdogan said.

"There are also considerations about creating a buffer zone and a safe zone, we are evaluating alternatives," he said without elaborating.

Turkey is building temporary housing units for Syrian refugees and would move them from tents to those units when they are ready, Erdogan told reporters.

sjt/msh (AP, Reuters, dpa)