Paris will not send weapons to the Syrian opposition, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Thursday as Turkey took measures to stop Syrian refugees and rebels coming and going freely across the border.

“We do not intend, neither today nor tomorrow, to send weapons to the Syrian opposition,” the Minister told journalists in Beirut when specifically asked about supplying weapons to the opposition.

“Things are very clear: on the question of supplying weapons, the answer is no. France does not supply and will not supply the Syrian opposition with weapons.”

The rebel Free Syrian Army has called several times on the international community asking for arms, to help them fight forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

Meanwhile, Turkish authorities have begun taking steps to stop Syrian refugees and rebels coming and going freely across the border with the conflict-torn country.

Turkey is officially hosting more than 80,000 refugees in a dozen camps concentrated in the Hatay border province.

For the past three weeks the Turkish army has stepped up its patrols along the border, which Syrians had previously been able to cross on a daily basis.

Meanwhile, the United States meanwhile slapped new sanctions on Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, over the Lebanese Shiite movement’s alleged support of Assad, the U.S. Treasury announced.

Source: Al Arabiya; AFP