Turkey demanded that Syria's leaders stop the killing of civilians and said it would watch events there in the coming days, raising pressure on President Bashar al-Assad, who said his forces would continue to pursue "terrorist groups".

"Developments in the coming days will be critical, for both Syria and Turkey," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a news conference in Ankara after returning from talks in Damascus. "Turkey's main and first aim is for the bloodshed to be stopped, and (for) an end to civilian deaths."

Al Jazeera's Rula Amin reports from Beirut.