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Turkey calls on Assad to step down

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to resign for the sake of his people.

"Without spilling any more blood, without causing any more injustice, for the sake of peace for the people, the country and the region, finally step down," Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said, in his first direct call for Assad to go.

"Fighting your own people until the death is not heroism. It's cowardice. If you want to see someone who fights his people to the death, look at Nazi Germany, look at Hitler, look at Mussolini," he told his ruling AK party.

"If you cannot learn a lesson from them, look at the killed Libyan leader who turned his guns on his own people and only 32 days ago used the same expressions as you."

But similar to the stance the Arab League took earlier this week, he stressed that he is not calling for international military intervention in the country.

"We do not have eyes on any country's land, we have no desire to interfere in any country's internal affairs," Erdogan said.

The UN has claimed 3,500 civilians have died in the uprising since March this year.

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