Turkey plans to bypass Syria for regional trade if conditions in the neighboring country deteriorate, the country's transport minister said Tuesday.

"If conditions aggravate in Syria , we are planning to shift [road] transport to Iraq by opening new gates," Transport Minister Binali Yildirim was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency.

Turkey 's move comes after Arab foreign ministers agreed Sunday a list of sweeping sanctions designed to cripple the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, which has defied international pressure to halt a bloody crackdown on protests.

Yildirim said the Arab sanctions against Damascus were not yet fully implemented.

" Turkey is supporting this work [Arab League decision] to some extent but our principle is that the restrictions to be imposed should never victimize the Syrian people," he warned.

Syria is a transit country for Turkey 's trade with Middle Eastern countries. Turkey and Syria , one time allies, abolished visa requirements in 2009.

Ankara has been increasingly strident in its criticism of the Syrian regime, and has already halted joint oil exploration and threatened to cut electricity supplies.

The government has not yet publicized the steps it is planning to take against Damascus but a Turkish diplomat earlier told AFP that Turkey was contemplating "smart sanctions" which would not harm civilians.

Turkish officials repeatedly said the delivery of water from Turkey 's Euphrates river to Syria was not among the measures being considered.

Yildirim said Turkey wasn't allowing the transfer of arms to Syria , while adding that no decision had yet been taken about civilian flights.

Current trade volume between Turkey and Syria stands at around $2.5 billion dollars, favorable to Turkey , according to observers. Both countries had vowed to raise it to $5 billion dollars in 2012.

But the sanctions planned by Ankara aimed at punishing the Syrian regime for its ongoing violence, which has claimed more than 3,500 lives according to the United Nations, are likely to dent this objective.
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