ANKARA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Friday urged all sides in Syria for a cease-fire during the upcoming Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) and if possible for a longer duration.
"We call for a ceasefire with all sides in Syria who clash against each other," Davutoglu said during a press conference, adding that "We hope the Syrian government moves with this call."
Davutoglu stressed in a statement the importance for the Syrian government to end bomb attacks on civilians. "We do hope that the Syrian regime would listen to the call of the international community and suspend attacks during the Feast of Sacrifice," he said, "At the same time, we expect the Syrian opposition to abide by the ceasefire."
"During the UN and Arab League's joint special envoy on Syria Lakhdar Brahimi's visit to Istanbul, Brahimi, Secretary General of the Arab League Nabil al-Arabi and I discussed the issue of a Syrian ceasefire during the upcoming Feast of Sacrifice," Davutoglu said.
"In principle, Turkey, the UN and the Arab League agreed to begin an initiative that would lead to a ceasefire in Syria," he stressed.
UN-AL envoy Brahimi is expected to arrive in Damascus later this week to broker a brief ceasefire between troops of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebels.
The Syrian government guardedly welcomed the proposal, but said any initiative must be respected by both sides.
Turkey, one of Assad's harshest critics, and Iran, one of his strongest allies, both backed the plan in a rare display of agreement.
Activists put the death toll in the Syrian crisis at over 30, 000. International players fear that if unchecked, the fighting in Syria could expand into a wider regional conflict.
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