Turkey Pounds Syria in Reprisal for Deadly Fire
Turkey pounded Syrian targets early on Thursday, killing several soldiers, in reprisal for deadly cross-border fire that has sharply escalated tensions in the tinder-box region.
In Ankara, the Turkish parliament met behind closed doors in an emergency session to consider the government's request to authorize Ankara to conduct cross-border military operations inside Syria.
"Turkey has no interest in a war with Syria. But Turkey is capable of protecting its borders and will retaliate when necessary," Ibrahim Kalin, chief advisor to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said on Twitter.
Ankara unleashed artillery shells into Syria late on Wednesday after mortar fire from its war-torn neighbor crashed inside the Turkish border town of Akcakale and killed five civilians, including a mother and her three children.
It marked the first time that Turkish citizens had been killed as a result of fire from Syria since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March 2011 and also marked an all-time low in relations between the onetime allies.
After a lull of several hours, "artillery fire resumed at 0300 GMT this morning," a Turkish security source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Several Syrian soldiers were killed in overnight Turkish shelling across the border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog said earlier, without giving an exact figure.
Turkey has demanded that the U.N. Security Council take action against Damascus after Wednesday's attack, which drew sharp Western condemnation, with the US expressing outrage.
The European Union on Thursday condemned Syria for the attack but urged restraint on all sides.
In a crisis meeting late on Wednesday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government drew up a motion asking parliament to allow it to conduct operations inside Syria, like the bombing raids that the army regularly carries out against suspected Kurdish rebel bases in neighboring Iraq.
"Our soil has been the target of aggressive actions by the Syrian Arab Republic Armed Forces since September 20, and they continued despite our numerous warnings and diplomatic initiatives," it read.
Akcakale and the surrounding border region have come under fire from Syria for several weeks, closing some 100 schools in the area and prompting the government to advise people to stay away.
Previously the most serious incident between Turkey and Syria was in June, when Syria shot down a Turkish fighter jet that had briefly strayed into its airspace, killing the two crewmen.
Following Wednesday's shelling, NATO member Turkey called an emergency meeting of the alliance and demanded action from the U.N. Security Council over what it called a "heinous" attack.
"Turkey will never leave unanswered such provocations by the Syrian regime targeting our national security, in line with engagement rules and international law," his office said.
And in a letter to the U.N. Security Council, Ankara called the shelling "an act of aggression by Syria against Turkey.
"It constitutes a flagrant violation of international law as well as a breach of international peace and security. Turkey calls for an immediate end to such unacceptable violations."
NATO, in an emergency meeting, said that it stood by its member Turkey and "urges the Syrian regime to end flagrant violations of international law."
Syria's "recent aggressive acts at NATO's southeastern border" were a "flagrant breach of international law and a clear and present danger" to an ally, it said.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington was "outraged", and Pentagon spokesman George Little said: "This is yet another example of the depraved behavior of the Syrian regime, and why it must go."
Syrian Information Minister Omran Zoabi said in a statement reported by state television that Damascus was looking into the origin of the cross-border shelling.
"Syria offers it sincere condolences to the families of the victims and to our friends the Turkish people," he added.
The minister reiterated his government's charges that it was battling foreign-backed "terrorists" whom it has frequently accused Ankara of training and financing.
Source: Agence France Presse
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