Hillary Clinton to meet Syrian opposition members

Istanbul, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Turkey on Saturday and is going to hold talks with Turkish foreign minister in Istanbul and Syrian opposition members.

The meeting will held in Conrad Hotel with a focus on the Syrian crisis and a number of other regional issues.

U.S. sources said one of the topics will be the shaping a democratic post-Bashar al-Assad period in Syria. Also, coordinating support for the Syrian opposition will be another item high on agenda.

Meanwhile, Clinton acknowledges Turkey's concerns about the crisis affecting its southern neighbor.

During the visit, Clinton is also expected to announce an additional 5.5 million U.S. dollars humanitarian aid to the Syrian people, which will bring the total U.S. aid to 82 million dollars since the crisis began 17 months ago.

Syria's neighbor Turkey is dealing with a growing humanitarian pressure as a huge number of refugees flooded across the border. Turkey is currently supporting over 50,000 Syrian refugees and more fleeing Syrians are arriving every day. (Xinhua-ANI)