Turkey to bring forward 'Friends of Syria' meeting

ANKARA - Agence France-Presse

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the 'Friends of Syria' conference at which representatives from over 60 countries will discuss the crisis in Syria, in Tunis, Tunisia, on February 24, 2012. ABACA foto

Turkey said Tuesday it was bringing forward by a day to April 1 a "Friends of Syria" conference in Istanbul, designed to pressure the Damascus regime into halting its crackdown on opponents.
 
"We have decided to bring the meeting forward for technical reasons," a Turkish diplomat said of the gathering originally set for April 2.
 
The Istanbul meeting comes after a first "Friends of Syria" conference in Tunis on February 24 which was attended by leading officials from Western and Arab countries.