Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has called for Bashar al-Assad’s immediate removal, saying a transitional government must be established and voicing support for a US missile strike overnight on one of his air bases.

“It is necessary to oust this regime as soon as possible from the leadership of Syria,” Cavusoglu told reporters in the southern town of Alanya.

“If he [Assad] doesn’t want to go, if there is no transition government, and if he continues committing humanitarian crimes, the necessary steps to oust him should be taken,” Cavusoglu said. Cavusoglu also said safe zones for civilians in Syria were now more important than ever.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday hailed the attack by the United States on a regime air base as a positive development but said it was not enough on its own and “serious steps” were needed to protect the Syrian people.

“We find it a positive and concrete step taken against the war crimes of the Assad regime. Is it enough? I do not find it enough. It is time to take serious steps for the protection of innocent Syrian people,” Erdogan told a rally in the southern province of Hatay.

“The international community has the capability to stop the regime and terrorist organizations. I hope the active stance that the United States displayed in Idlib is a beginning with regards to such developments,” Erdogan said. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Agencies)