Syrian envoy holds crisis talks in Turkey

The once-close ties between the neighbors appear close to breaking point, and Assad's envoy Hassan Turkmani faced Turkish impatience over Syria's repressive tactics and slowness to reform, as well as anger over a burgeoning humanitarian crisis.
As of Wednesday morning, some 8,500 Syrian refugees were lodged in tented camps on Turkey's side of the border. More have been arriving by the day. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu toured one of the refugee camps in Turkey's Hatay province, across from the Syrian city of Jisr Al-Shughour, just 20 km from the border.
Speaking to journalists before meeting Erdogan in Ankara, Turkmani said the refugees would stay in Turkey for a "short period of time." "Soon they will be returning. We have prepared everything for them, they have started returning."
Assad asked to send an emissary when he called Erdogan on Tuesday to congratulate him on winning a third term in office.
In Syria's restive northern province, terrified residents ran for their lives Wednesday as elite army units swept through cities and towns, expanding a deadly operation to crush signs of dissent against Assad. Farther south, tens of thousands took to the streets in the central city of Hama to show solidarity with victims of the military crackdown.
In recent days, Syrian tanks and the government's most loyal troops have been trying to extinguish any chance the anti-Assad resistance could gain a base for a wider armed rebellion. They have sealed off strategic areas in the north and east — including the town of Jisr Al-Shughour, which was spinning out of government control before the military moved in on Sunday.
Other towns and villages in the region were on alert. Maj. Gen. Riad Haddad, head of the military's political department, said tanks surrounding Maaret Al-Numan, a town of 100,000, had not entered "yet" — suggesting they were readying an operation.
Hundreds of people were fleeing Maaret Al-Numan on Wednesday, as security forces intermittently shelled the area and raided nearby villages, making arrests, said Syrian human rights activist Mustafa Osso. Troops might storm Maaret Al-Numan "any minute," he said.