Turkish president proposes excluding Syria from OIC

Turkish President Abdullah Gul has proposed excluding Syria from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at an emergency meeting of the organization, Trend cites the Zaman newspaper as saying on Wednesday.

President Gul urged the organization's members not to remain indifferent to crimes in Syria.

Anti-government protests have been continuing in Syria for about 17 months.

According to UN, the total number of victims of the conflict in Syria has exceeded 17,000 people. About 230,000 people became refugees. About three million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. The Syrian authorities say that they oppose the well-armed militants.