ANKARA, Turkey, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Ankara said it was deeply disappointed about the lack of peace in Syria as violence continued Monday into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Syrian troops renewed attacks Monday on Hama. Germany and Italy called for an urgent U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss the bloodshed.
Hama residents told The New York Times shelling resumed in the early morning as people were going home from mosques after dawn prayers.
At least three people were killed, activists said.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry in a statement said it had expected the Syrian government to address the aspirations of its people through peaceful methods.
"These operations do not contribute to the restoration of order in Syria but hamper the process of needed reforms," the statement read. "These kinds of operations and violence do not achieve solutions, but rather create a deadlock. It is time for the Syrian administration to see this reality."
British Foreign Secretary William Hague echoed Ankara's sentiments, saying there was no justification for attacks on the civilian population.
The European Union announced Monday that it was putting restrictive measures on Damascus in response to the "gravity of the situation" unfolding there.
International media are still largely banned from Syria but video clips posed on YouTube by Sham, a Web site sympathetic to the protesters, showed unarmed civilians taking cover from shelling and heavy machine-gun fire as hospitals struggled to cope with mounting casualties.
U.S. President Barack Obama during the weekend described the events in Syria as "horrifying." The Security Council has been largely silent on the matter.
