Turkish President Abdullah Gul accused the government of Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday of using oppression and violence against its people, saying the situation in Syria had reached a "point of no return."
"We exerted enormous efforts in public and behind closed doors in order to convince the Syrian leadership to lead the democratic transition," Gul said in a speech hosted by Wilton Park, a British foreign policy think tank.
"Despite all this the Baath regime continues to use oppression and violence on its own people. Violence breeds violence. Now, unfortunately, Syria has come to a point of no return," he said.