Gulf, Turkey Bemoan U.N. Inaction on Aleppo

Turkey's foreign minister and his Arab counterparts in the Gulf on Thursday condemned "indiscriminate" air strikes on Syria's Aleppo and expressed "deep regret" at the U.N.'s inability to stop the raids.

The call came in a statement at the close of a meeting in the Saudi capital between Ankara's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his counterparts from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council.

Russian and Syrian warplanes have been backing a large-scale offensive by Syrian government forces against rebel-controlled east Aleppo.

More than 70 civilians died on Tuesday and Wednesday alone in air strikes and regime artillery fire on eastern Aleppo districts, a monitoring group said.

"Ministers condemned the escalation of military operations in Aleppo by the regime and its supporters through indiscriminate air raids against the civilian population and infrastructure," in a statement issued at the end of the GCC-Turkey talks.

New Zealand, one of the 10 non-permanent U.N. Security Council members, on Wednesday presented a draft resolution demanding an end to air attacks in Aleppo.

The measure followed the failure of the council to adopt two resolutions on a ceasefire in Syria, one of which was vetoed by Russia during a stormy meeting at the weekend.

Gulf ministers and their Turkish counterpart "expressed their deep regret for the inability of the U.N. Security Council to make a decision to stop the air campaign and the bombing of civilians in Aleppo," their statement said.