Syria's main rebel group has urged the EU to supply weapons to rebels fighting president Bashar Assad's forces and and help them overthrow his regime.
The call by the Syrian National Coalition followed EU's decision earlier this week to let the Syrian arms embargo expire, paving way for individual countries in the 27-member union to send weapons to Assad's outgunned opponents.
However, the EU decision may have little impact on Syria's two-year-old conflict, since no single European country is expected to send lethal weapons to the rebels soon.
The Western-backed Syrian opposition coalition urged the EU to back the arms flow and promptly send "specialised weaponry to repel the fierce attacks waged against unarmed civilians" by Assad's regime, its allies in Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group and Iranian backers.
"The Coalition recognizes that this decision is part of many serious efforts by the EU to support the Syrian people throughout the hardships in the uprisings," it said. "However, despite the importance of this decision, the words must be solidified by action."
There are deep divisions in the EU over ways to end the bloodshed in Syria, and even Britain and France - who want to arm the rebels - have said they have no immediate plans to do so until diplomacy has been given a chance. The US and Russia are trying to launch Syrian peace talks at a conference in Geneva, possibly next month.
The possibility of an arms race in Syria could overshadow attempts to bring representatives of Assad's regime and its political opposition to the talks.
Damascus previously said that it would "in principle" attend the Geneva talks. The opposition coalition has yet to decide whether to go or not, and despite days of deliberations in Istanbul, the fractured bloc has not come up with a joint decision.
Opposition leaders insist Assad must relinquish power before any talks with Damascus can take place.
The Geneva talks, although seen as a long shot, are the international community's only plan for ending the conflict that began more than two years ago and has killed more than 70,000 people. Also, more than five million people fled their homes, seeking refuge in neighbouring countries and in other parts of Syria.
Russia, Assad's close ally, has criticised Europe's decision to allow the arming of Syrian rebels, saying it undercuts international efforts to negotiate an end to the civil war. Moscow also renewed its pledge to supply Assad's regime with advanced missiles, which could transform an already brutal conflict into an East-West proxy fight.
Washington and many of its European allies have been reluctant to send sophisticated weapons to Syrian rebels, fearing they could end up in the hands of radical Islamic groups such as the al Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra that have emerged as the most effective and organised fighting force on the opposition's side.