Turkey May Offer Asylum To Assad Family Members

Turkey may consider offering asylum to the family of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose country was shaken by a bloody protest since March 2011, Turkish President Abdullah Gul, was quoted Thursday as saying by the press Turkish. “There is nothing like that at the moment,” said Gul who was asked whether Ankara would eventually be ready to welcome the family members of the Syrian leader if they requested it, reported the Radikal newspaper. “If such a request is being made to us, of course we will study it,” he added.

On the ground, the Syrian army Thursday stormed a village in the southern province of Deraa, the birthplace of the popular uprising against the regime, reported the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights. It also reported about massive arrest operations in Damascus area.

Meanwhile, the members of the UN Security Council have prepared a new version of the draft resolution on Syria that included some concessions to Russia in the hope Moscow will now agree not to use its veto right, diplomats said Thursday. The resolution “supports the decision of the Arab League on 22 January.” But the details of the offered transition process – including the transfer of powers of President Bashar Al-Assad at his vice president – are no longer appear.