Turkey says it has suspended talks with Syria and is considering imposing sanctions against the neighboring country for its crackdown on anti-government protesters.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Turkish journalists in New York that he did not want things between Syria and Turkey to arrive at this point, but the Syrian government "forced" Turkey to make the decision.
He spoke after a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly late Tuesday.
Erdogan said Turkish foreign ministry officials will work with the U.S. State Department to determine what sanctions Turkey might impose.
The White House said Obama and Erdogan agreed at their meeting to consult on possible new steps that "could include sanctions, political pressure and other measures" against Syria.
Turkey shares a border with Syria and has shown reluctance toward sanctioning its southern neighbor, which is also an important trade partner.
But Turkish leaders have spoken out more and more in recent weeks against the Syrian government's violence against protesters.
On Tuesday, Syrian security forces killed six civilians in separate raids.
Heavily-armed government troops searched houses near the capital, Damascus, and in central Homs province - both centers of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Rights groups and Syrian state media also reported that armed men shot dead two policemen.
France and the United States also are pushing for the U.N. Security Council to address Assad's deadly crackdown on dissent.
The U.N. human rights office says at least 2,700 people have been killed during Syria's crackdown, including 100 children.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
