DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – Supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have held a demonstration in the southern Turkish city of Antakya near the border with Syria.
Hundreds of Syrians demonstrated in support of President Assad and condemned international attempts against the Syrian government.
Demonstrators also chanted the name of the Syrian president and urged him to resist foreign pressures against Damascus.
The demonstration in Antakya comes as the United Nations General Assembly approved a non-binding resolution, introduced by Egypt, which supports an Arab League plan concerning the unrest in Syria on February 16.
Syrian Ambassador to the UN Bashar Jaafari said after the UN vote that the resolution “would only lead to a tightening of the crisis and more violence in the region as a whole.”
Jaafari added that the United Nations was in danger of being used by “some member states” as a means of providing cover for “armed terrorist groups” in Syria.
Meanwhile, China asserts that it maintains an unbiased position on the unrest in Syria and is trying to resolve the issue through dialog with all the involved parties.
“China takes a responsible and impartial position on the Syrian issue,” Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Zhai Jun said after a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday.
Zhai is on an official visit to Syria for talks with the government officials and the Syrian opposition in order to find a solution to the ongoing unrest in the Middle Eastern country.
“China’s government supports dialog with the Syrian government, Syrian opposition and the LAS [Arab League States] and together with the international community plays an active and constructive role in the settlement of the Syrian crisis,” he added.
Beijing has called for an immediate halt to violence in Syria and urged the conflicting sides to start talks aimed at achievement of a ‘political settlement.’
“China has been closely watching the situation in Syria and calls on all the sides of the conflict to stop violence as soon as possible and begin a far-reaching political dialogue,” the Chinese official noted.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. The violence has claimed the lives of hundreds, reportedly including over 2,000 security forces.
Damascus blames ‘outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups’ for the unrest, asserting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.
The West and the Syrian opposition, however, accuse the government of killing protesters.
On Thursday, Beijing voted against an Arab League-drafted anti-Syria resolution at the UN General Assembly, which condemned Damascus, over, what it called, the government's crackdown on opposition protests.
Earlier in February, China and Russia vetoed a UN Security Council draft resolution on the country, which called on Assad to resign and hand over power to opposition leaders.
The two countries had also vetoed a similar resolution against Syria in October.
A Syrian demonstration in support of President Bashar al-Assad in the capital Damascus
