Turkey hammered Syrian targets on Thursday in reprisal for deadly cross-border fire that sent tensions soaring in the tinder-box region, prompting international calls for restraint.
In Ankara, the Turkish parliament met behind closed doors in an emergency session to consider a government request to authorise 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. Western powers condemned the Syrian strike, with the US saying it was outraged and France warning it threatened global security.
Damascus’s close ally Russia said Syria had admitted that the deadly shelling was “a tragic accident, and that it will not happen again.” Ankara unleashed artillery shells into its neighbour late on Wednesday after mortar fire crashed inside the Turkish border town of Akcakale, killing five civilians including a mother and her three children.
It marked the first time that Turkish citizens had been killed by Syrian fire since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime began in March 2011. Several Syrian soldiers were killed as a result of the shelling, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog said, without giving an exact figure.
Turkey has demanded that the UN Security Council take action against Damascus over Wednesday’s attack, which drew sharp Western condemnation. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington was “outraged”, while France said it constituted “a serious threat to global security and peace.”
Amid the rising tensions, calls for calm poured in. The European Union condemned the attack and urged restraint on all sides, while Germany called for a “de-escalation” “a measured handling of this worsening situation.” Syria’s main ally Iran also sought to cool tempers, asking “both sides to show restraint.”
In a crisis meeting late on Wednesday, Turkish 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 neighbouring Iraq. Akcakale and the surrounding border region have come under fire from Syria for several weeks, forcing the closure of some 100 schools and prompting the government to advise people to stay away from the region.
Following Wednesday’s shelling, NATO member Turkey called an emergency meeting of the alliance and demanded action from the UN Security Council over what it called a “heinous” attack. NATO said that it stood by its member Turkey and urged the Syrian regime to end “flagrant violations of international law” that it described as “a clear and present danger” to an ally.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 and offered condolences to the families of the victims.
Turkey pounds Syria in reprisal for deadly fire
