Nearly 12000 dead in Syria as Erdogan lost hope

Nearly 12,000 people, mostly civilians killed by troops, have died in Syria since the outbreak in March 2011 of a popular revolt against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, said Tuesday the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). In total, 11,925 people have been killed since March 15, 2011, 8515 civilians and 3410 soldiers, including more than 700 dissidents, the president of the NGO, Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. Moreover, since the announcement of the cease-fire on April 12, 831 people, including 589 civilians, were killed in violence, he said. Fighting has also driven into exile more than 65,000 Syrians, according to the UN, and more than 25,000 people are currently incarcerated in connection with the revolt, according to Abdel Rahman. Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday the UN should increase significantly the number of its observers in Syria. He made these comments during a visit to Rome for a summit with his Italian peer. "We need 1,000, 2,000, maybe 3,000 observers, a major mission which is able to visit the entire country and see what happens there," Erdogan said at a press conference. "If someone were to ask me where are my hopes, I would say that I lost all hope," he added.