News / Middle East

Turkey Says Syria Fires Again Across Border

A mobile missile launcher is positioned at a military base on the Turkish-Syrian border at Suruc in Sanliurfa province, October 6, 2012.
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A mobile missile launcher is positioned at a military base on the Turkish-Syrian border at Suruc in Sanliurfa province, October 6, 2012.
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VOA News
Turkish state media say another round of mortar fire from Syria has landed in southern Turkey.

The Anatolian news agency says Turkish military returned fire Saturday after the mortar round landed in a rural area amid intense clashes on the Syrian side of the border in Idlib province.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Friday that Syria should not test Turkey's ability to strike back against continued cross-border attacks.

A Syrian attack on the Turkish town of Akcakale killed five civilians just days earlier. Following the attack, Turkish forces shelled Syrian targets, and Turkey's parliament authorized military operations outside its borders if necessary.

In Damascus Saturday, an aid shipment arrived from Russia to help with the humanitarian crisis.

"This is the fifth humanitarian shipment of aid to the Syrian people. This time the aid includes medical supplies and medicines," said Russian Ambassador to Syria, Azamat Kulmukhametov.

And in Aleppo to the north, citizens are continuing to cope with continued fighting for control of the country's most populous city.

A brigade commander for the rebel Free Syrian Army in Aleppo said rebels had hoped to drive the government troops from the city, but have not had the resources to do so.

"Since the Eid at the end of Ramadan two months ago, we wanted to take all of Aleppo and reach Damascus, but the lack of ammunition and the rockets from the jet planes have prevented us," he said.

The Syrian government refers to rebels fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as "terrorists."


Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

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Comment Sorting
Comment on this forum (6)
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by: Anonymous
October 06, 2012 4:38 PM
FALSE FLAG OPERATION!!! Turkey wants an EXCUSE to go to WAR and save the insurgents. The USA should WARN Turkey to back off IF the USA REALLY CARES to PRESERVE HUMAN LIVES.

by: Joe Richards
October 06, 2012 3:48 PM
The Turkish PM needs to act to protect his people.

The only way to keep Turks safe is to resolve the conflict in Syria.

Assad does not like the Turks already, so the immediate step must be to remove Assad's capability to launch military aircraft.

Then, the question is should Turkey invade all or only parts of Syria.

It is hard to understand why any Syrian would think it's a good idea to bomb you own cities. Anybody involved in that activity needs to be removed from the future of Syria.

Anything less and more Turks will die, let alone Syrians.

It is very apparent that neither the UN nor Nato are designed for the problems of today's world. If I buy arms from a member of the security council and refrain from right-out war on a Nato member, I can bomb whatever I want?

by: musawi melake from: .
October 06, 2012 1:48 PM
As long as Turkey doesn’t stop harbouring terrorists on its soil, what right does it has to ask other affected state not to fire like this. Terrorism is terrorism whether it's been carried out by Mohamar Gadaffi eller Barak Husain Obama, both are sponsors of terrorism. If Obama can order drone strikes into Pakistan and call the Pakistanis to sop supporting Kashmiri insurgents' fight for freedom in India, and Israel can start a war into Lebanon, then why not Syrians or any other? Is it the kind of power wielded by one state that determines what it can do while others can't? Law should be same for all!, and there should be sanctions imposed on the Turkish state for supporting terrorism. Mr. Putin should seriously consider calling for sanctions against Turkey and black-listing some of the western states that aid terrorism. If it's justified to use terrorism as foreign policy tool for the West, so why not for the Pakistanis, whose country is after all an acronym for Punjab, Afghanistan, Kashmir and Sindh.

by: Anonymous
October 06, 2012 1:04 PM
Turkey is the beligererant. They are itching to attack Syria since their "rebels" are being defeated.

by: Thoth from: USA
October 06, 2012 12:28 PM
Turkey needs to step in and support the people of Syria. They are the power in the region, not Russia and not the USA. Turkey take your place in the region and help end the suffering.

by: Godwin from: Nigeria
October 06, 2012 7:42 AM
I have said severally that Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not a good regional player. He is peremptory, fractious and reactionary. He does not think before he acts. Two previous occasions have proved him to be an unsuitable regional leader; one, when he walked out on the Israeli Prime Minister at a meeting on the sideline of the UN general assembly about three years back - something unbecoming of a leader; two, his reaction and support of the flotilla and threat to go to war with Israel over same. And now, having to bomb beleaguered and hapless Syrians already confused in the civil war bombarded from left and right and adding Turkey's aerial rout that gives the civilians nowhere to hide for safety. Erdogan, that is not a way to be regional power or leader. Turkey may have to wait for another leader if it is to be reckoned with as a unifying force in the region. In the meantime, all eyes are on Egypt - will its Arab blood permit it to make the difference? This is in doubt. Means there has to be a long wait before Turkey - the most outstanding democracy in the Arab/islamic world - comes to terms with itself, put its house in order and prepare to give the Arabs/islamic world the leadership that will launch the region into the comity of civilized countries. How long this wait is to be, no one knows, suggest not with Erdogan as PM or President.