In the latest in a series of interviews published by Turkish daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, Mr. Assad accused Ankara of having a sectarian agenda and supporting the rebellion against his regime.

WSJ: Turkey Finds Pilots' Bodies, Providing New Spark for Tensions

Educated at Turkey's top school, Robert College in Istanbul, Mr Cem studied law in Lausanne and politics in Paris before becoming a columnist for the left-leaning daily newspaper, Cumhuriyet (the Republic).

ECONOMIST: Ismail Cem, a Turkish strategist

"They wanted to bring people out into the streets in large numbers just like in Egypt and Tunisia, " al-Assad said in the latest installment of an interview published Thursday in the newspaper Cumhuriyet.

CNN: 'Friends of Syria' set to meet in Paris