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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has blamed foreign powers, especially Turkey, for the bloodshed in his country.

In a televised interview Wednesday, Mr. Assad told Syrians that destiny is in their hands and not in the hands of others. He described rebels as terrorists and said that his government needs more time to resolve what he called a “regional and global” conflict.

For the past year and a half, the Syrian government has been trying to put down a revolt using force. The military action has resulted in a huge civilian death toll, alarming the international community.

Turkey has called for international intervention and some of Syria's officials have defected, with Prime Minister Riad Hijab the most senior among them.

Mr. Assad told the local Addounia television that his government had been aware of some ignorant officials trying to defect and decided to let them leave in order to get rid of traitors.

Syrian rebels and government forces engaged in fierce fighting Wednesday near a military airport between the northern cities of Aleppo and Idlib.

An activist group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told VOA that 14 government troops were killed or injured in the clashes, while three rebels died.

Rebels entrenched in Aleppo and Idlib have targeted the Taftanaz military airport several times. The two cities have been shelled daily by government troops.

Activists also reported a third day of army attacks on rebel strongholds in the eastern outskirts of Damascus. Attacks in and around the capital in the past week have killed hundreds of people.

More than 100,000 Syrian refugees have fled to neighboring Turkey, but the number is rapidly growing as close to 5,000 try to cross the border every day. Syrian refugees have also gone to Jordan and other neighboring countries.

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