Turkey on Monday, February 6 ruled out the possibility that it might consider military intervention in neighbouring Syria if the situation in the country does not improve.

“We will do whatever is necessary, but military intervention is not an option for Turkey,” Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc was quoted as saying by the state news agency Anatolian.

Pointing out that Turkey was bound by decisions made by the United Nations and the Arab League, Arinc was deeply critical of the rejection by China and Russia of a UN resolution calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to resign.

“This was wrong,” he said adding that he was also deeply critical of both Iran and Lebanon for failing to criticize the actions of the al-Assad government.

Anatolian also quoted Arinc as pointing out that is almost 30 years to the day since al-Assad's father and predecessor as president, Hafez al-Assad ordered the military to bombard the central city of Hama, killing an estimated 20,000 people, M&C reported, citing DPA.