Ifølge TV-kanalen Al Arabiya har Tyrkias statsminister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stilt Syrias president Bashar al-Assad en rekke krav, som i sum vil forandre Syria. Ett av dem er at hans bror Maher gir fra seg kommandoen over Presidentgarden og 4. brigade.

Det er disse styrkene som står for den verste volden mot sivile demonstranter.

Men kravene gjelder også pressefrihet, ytringsfrihet og politisk frihet. Det er vanskelig å se for seg at regimet ville overleve lenge, hvis det innfridde kravene.

The Al Arabiya report says that in the letter, Turkey demands a series of reforms, among them the freedom to protest, freedom of expression, the lifting of a ban on creating political parties, and an end to the 1980 law making membership in the Muslim Brotherhood group an offense punishable by death.

Turkey has offered to take in Maher Assad should he step down from his position or otherwise to find him a place of refuge in one of the European countries. The letter promises Maher Assad and his cronies that they will not be persecuted after they step down.

Report: Turkey to demand Assad’s brother step down as Syria commander