Turkey, Japan expel Syrian diplomats over Houla massacre

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey and Japan expelled Syrian diplomats on Wednesday, May 30 joining the U.S. and several other nations in protesting a weekend massacre of more than 100 people in Syria, including women and children, AP reported.

Survivors blamed pro-regime gunmen for at least some of the carnage in Houla as the killings reverberated inside Syria and beyond, further isolating President Bashar Assad and embarrassing his few remaining allies. The Syrian government denied its troops were behind the killings and blamed "armed terrorists."

The U.N.'s top human rights body planned to hold a special session Friday to address the massacre.

Damascus had said it would conclude its own investigation into the Houla deaths by Wednesday but it was not clear if the findings would be made public.

The Houla killings prompted Western nations to expel Syrian diplomats in a coordinated protest, with the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Bulgaria ordering top Syrian diplomats to leave on Tuesday.

Syria's state-run media on Wednesday denounced the diplomatic expulsions, which began Tuesday with announcements by the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Bulgaria, as "unprecedented hysteria."

Turkey, Syria's neighbor and a former close ally, joined the coordinated protest on Wednesday. Turkey has been among the most outspoken critics of the Assad regime. It closed its embassy in Damascus in March and withdrew the ambassador. Its consulate in Aleppo remains open.

The Foreign Ministry said it ordered the Syrian charge d'affaires and other diplomats at the Syrian embassy in Ankara to leave the country within 72 hours. The consulate in Istanbul will remain open for consular duties only.