ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Turkey will pursue sanctions on Syria, even though the U.N. Security Council vetoed a sanctions resolution, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
Erdogan's comments, made while visiting South Africa, came as his country's military said it began a routine military exercise near the Syrian border Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported.
"The veto of [the draft] will not prevent our sanctions, just as it does not prevent the steps of some or all [European Union] countries," Erdogan said.
Russia and China Tuesday vetoed a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would have condemned Syria's crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. The proposed resolution included a call for an immediate end to alleged human rights abuses by the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad.
"We will now inevitably apply our sanction package. … We have a [565-mile] border," Erdogan said. "Moreover, we have cross-border family ties, which increase our responsibility."
Erdogan didn't say what the sanctions would include.
