The international community has stepped up its condemnation of the Syrian regime's deadly repression of the protest movement:

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March

• 17: France condemns violence by the security forces in Damascus, two days after the start of protests in Syria.
• 18: The United States strongly condemns the violence after four people die and hundreds are wounded in a crackdown.

April 

• 22: US President Barack Obama condemns Syria's "outrageous" use of violence, accusing the regime of seeking Iran's aid.
• 27: Several European countries summon Syria's ambassadors.
• 29: The United States imposes new sanctions on Syria, including on the younger brother of President Bashar al-Assad, Maher.

May

• 9: The EU tightens sanctions targeting Assad's brother and inner circle.
• 18: Washington imposes sanctions on Assad and six other regime leaders.
• 19: Obama tells Assad to lead a transition or step down.
• 27: French President Nicolas Sarkozy joins Obama's call.

June

• 10: Turkey accuses Syria of perpetrating an "atrocity".
• 16: Russia and China say they are opposed to any interference in the Arab world.
• 20: Assad has reached "a point of no return, " French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe says.
• 28: The Syrian regime's authorisation of an opposition meeting in Damascus is a "move in the right direction," the United States says.
• 29: The US Treasury imposes sanctions on Syria's Political Security Directorate for human rights abuses.

July

• 8: The US ambassador to Damascus, Robert Ford, and French ambassador, Eric Chevallier, visit the flashpoint town of Hama, amid massive demonstrations.
• 11: Pro-regime crowds attack the US and French embassies. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Assad "has lost legitimacy".
• 13: Britain's Foreign Office summons the Syrian ambassador. France slams as "indecent" Russia and China's "blocking" of a proposed United Nations resolution condemning the crackdown.
• 16: Syrian dissidents meet in Istanbul, in the third such meeting in Turkey.
• 18: British Foreign Secretary William Hague calls for Assad to implement reforms or leave power.
• 31: Obama says he is "appalled" by Syria's crackdown, which activists say killed nearly 140 people, including 100 in Hama.

August

• 1: Russia urges Syria to immediately stop the use of force and repression against civilian protesters.
• 2: The EU extends to 30 its blacklist of individuals and businesses associated with the repression.
• 3: After weeks of blockage, the UN Security Council condemns the crackdown in a statement, but not a resolution.
• 4: The White House warns that Assad has put Syria and the Middle East on a "very dangerous path". France slams Assad's decree authorising political parties as a "provocation." Russian President Dmitry Medvedev calls the situation in Syria "dramatic" and expresses "enormous concern" over the violence. The United States imposes sanctions on a businessman close to Assad.
• 5: Turkey says the crackdown is "unacceptable". Kuwait urges a halt in "the continued bloodshed among the brotherly Syrian people".