Turkey warns Syria after cross-border attacks

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan launched a clear warning on Friday that his country "not far" from a war with Syria after attacks across the border between the two countries this week, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should not test Turkey's ability to strike back.

"But the scope and scale of retaliation will be determined on an assessment of whether the attack is intentional or accidental and therefore has the approval of the chain of command in Syria,"said Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat

In a fiery speech Friday in Istanbul, Erdogan said that Assad's government that it would be committing a grave mistake if it chooses to go to war against Turkey. and highlighting the risk of sliding neighboring countries to the conflict in Syria, which began an uprising to topple President Bashar al-Assad.Erdogan's speech came after a Syrian mortar barrage on a town in southeastern Turkey, killing five civilians on Tuesday.

The Turkish artillery shelled Syrian military targets on Wednesday and Thursday in response to a Syrian attack, killing a number of Syrian soldiers and the Turkish parliament authorised cross-border military action in the event of further aggression.

"We are not interested in war, but we're not far from war either. This nation has come to where it is today having gone through intercontinental wars," Erdogan said in his speech. "Those who attempt to test Turkey's deterrence, its decisiveness, its capacity, I say here they are making a fatal mistake."

The UN Security Council condemned the Syrian attack on the Turkish town and called for an immediate halt to such violations of international law.

The United States has said it stands next to Turkey ally in NATO and supports its right to defend itself against hostile acts which are exposed because of the war in Syria.The cross-border violence this week is the most serious so far since the conflict began.

Turkey is shelters more than 90,000 Syrian refugees in camps on its territory and has allowed rebel army leaders sanctuary as exodus of half a million Iraqi Kurds to its territory after the 1991 Gulf War.

The violence has spread to Lebanon as well and 30 thousand people were killed since the uprising began against Assad which began with peaceful street protests but is now a full-scale civil war also fought on sectarian lines

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which based in Britain has said about 180 people were killed across Syria in violence on Thursday, including 48 soldiers from the government forces.

Syrian opposition said the gunmen they had taken control of the air defense base quantity of missiles outside Damascus in a rare progress toward the city after a series of setbacks faced by the opposition in the capital.

Video posted on YouTube shows a the armed opposition forces stormed the base in the eastern district of Ghouta a few kilometers to the east of Damascus on Thursday and dozens of Syrian opposition forces dressed in military uniforms and celebrate while black smoke billowing from a military facility from behind.

Despite frequent clashes on the outskirts of Damascus opposition forces were unable to control the land for long periods of time in the face of artillery and air forces of the government. The opposition launched devastating attacks on government and military installations in the heart of the capital.

Turkey confirmed that it is ready to launch retaliatory strikes again if war spread to its territory, but has also said it will act in accordance with international law and in coordination with other foreign powers.

Five civilians Turks were killed after Syria attacked town Akakali in southeast Turkey by missile which led Turkey in response to this attack by killing a number of Syrian soldiers.

The Turkish Parliament passed on Thursday launched a cross-border military operations in the event of other attacks. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara does not want to start a war and that the parliament's decision to the goal of deterrence. The Security Council issued condemnation after two days of negotiations on the text rejected by Russia at the beginning.

Sources

The Daily Star

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