Syria tells Erdogan to quit if he can’t peacefully control protests

The Syrian government pounced on the opportunity Saturday to criticize Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan over his government’s handling of the anti-government protests gripping the country over the past few days.

Hundreds were injured and nearly 1,000 arrested after a police crackdown on what began as a protest against a park demolition in Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Friday. The brutal response triggered riots against Erdogan’s AK Party’s policies in what some have dubbed a “Turkish Spring.”

The Syrian Minister of Information Omran al-Zoubi said the “brotherly Turkish people do not deserve this barbarity,” adding that “if Erdogan is incapable of following non-violent means, he has to step down.”

“We wish the Turkish people stability and calm…We call upon Erdogan to show wisdom and not to deal with the Turkish people in the same way he did with Syria,” al-Zoubi was quoted by SANA as saying.

Syrian state TV reportedly broadcast the violent scenes in Turkey for hours.

Turkey has been a harsh critic of Bashar Assad, after Erdogan, a former ally of the Syrian president, turned against him several months after the Syrian conflict began in March 2011. The Turkish PM said his patience was tried after Damascus refused Ankara’s advice on political reforms in response to the Syrian protests.

Syrian officials have accused Turkey of fueling the bloodshed in Syria, and harboring political and military opponents of the Syrian regime.