Turkish FM says Syria sanctions mean no harm for Syrian people

ANKARA (A.A) - November 30, 2011 - Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Wednesday that Turkey's sanctions on Syria did not aim at hurting the Syrian people. "The basic principle regarding the sanctions is to avoid hurting Syrian people and preventing them from punishment or suffering for the mistakes of the regime," Davutoglu told reporters in a press conference where he announced a package of sanctions on Damascus for its failure to halt a violent crackdown on pre-democracy protests.             Davutoglu said the sanctions did not include measures that could prevent Syrian people from access to essential needs, adding the sanctions were aimed at curbing the Syrian regime's capability to resort to violence against its own people. "We hope the Syrian regime would wake up in the shortest possible time to the fact that the only way out of this dead end is to recognize the rightful demands of the people and stop violence and oppression," he said.