Syria: Assad is 'at a Dead-End' Claims Turkey's PM

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned that Syria's embattled President Bashar al-Assad is "a dead-end street", a local newspaper reported.

He also announced a new initiative on Syria together with the international community. "We will launch a new initiative with countries that stand by the Syrian people instead of the regime," Erdoğan told his deputies during a parliamentary meeting.

Erdoğan accused Russia and China of giving Assad "a licence to kill" by vetoing a recent Obama-supported Security Council resolution on Syria. "The process that occurred at the United Nations in relation to Syria is a fiasco for the civilized world," he said.

He claimed that Bashar al-Assad was following the path of his father Hafez, using violence against his own people. Recalling common roots between Syria and Turkey, he said Ankara had been urging Assad to step down in the past months.

"You can see traces of a common history in Syria in every square meter of land," he claimed.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu is due to travel the United States for talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

China and Russia on Saturday blocked an Arab-backed Security Council resolution that sought to denounce the Assad regime for its bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.