Demonstrators gather during a protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Ebred near Damascus in Syria, March 30, 2012. Turkey is host to a conference meeting of the Friends of Syria, a group of countries which seek an international agreement on how to end violence in Syria. According to UN estimations, the year-long onslaught of the Syrian regime has so far killed more than 8000 people in the country. UPI.