Turkey has 'strong suspicion' regime carried out Douma chemical attack

Turkey has said it has a "strong suspicion" Bashar al-Assad's regime was behind a suspected chemical weapon attack in the Syrian city of Douma on Saturday night.

Ankara said it strongly condemns the killings, which left dozens dead and created terror in the Eastern Ghouta town.

"We strongly condemn the attack and we have the strong suspicion it was carried out by the regime, whose record on the use of chemical weapons is known by the international community," the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

Monitoring group Syrian Network for Human Rights have put the death toll from Saturday's attack at 55 with hundreds injured.

Footage from the scenes affected by the suspected nerve agent attack showed dead parents clutching their children. The victims showed signs of suffocation including foaming at the mouth.

Turkey's foreign ministry said the alleged massacre showed that past UN Security Council resolutions on the use of chemical weapons in Syria were "once again" being ignored.

Opposition areas have witnessed scores of chemical attacks by the Syrian regime, including the use of the deadly sarin nerve agent.

Ankara has called for an investigation by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) following the latest incident.

Ankara has been working with Bashar al-Assad's key backers Russia and Iran to end the war, and has carved out its own areas of influence in the north.

Last week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted a summit on Syria in Ankara with President Hassan Rouhani of Iran and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ankara has called on "the parties who have influence over the Syrian regime" to ensure that such attacks are halted and punished, likely referring to Iran and Russia.

It noted that "in the past no measures have been taken against these attacks".