Monday October 8, 2012, 8:43 am
:(...

Monday October 8, 2012, 8:52 am
Worried...have friends in Turkey

Monday October 8, 2012, 8:56 am
(e. (photo: Veli Gurgah/Anadolu/EPA)



urkey's military fired an artillery round into Syria on Sunday in immediate retaliation after a shell fired from Syria landed in the Turkish border town of Akcakale.

The Syrian shell hit near a plant belonging to the Turkish grain board, several hundred metres from the centre of Akcakale, where five civilians were killed on Wednesday in previous Syrian shelling.

At least six mortars could be heard being fired from Turkey. It was the fifth day in a row that Turkey had returned fire. Abdulhakim Ayhan, the mayor of Akcakale, confirmed that Turkish artillery immediately returned fire. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the latest incident.

The strikes and counter-strikes are the most serious cross-border violence in Syria's conflict, which began as a pro-democracy uprising but has evolved into a civil war with sectarian overtones. They highlight how the crisis could destabilise the region.

Turkey, once an ally of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, but now a leading voice in calls for him to quit, has nearly 100,000 Syrian refugees in camps on its territory and has allowed rebel leaders sanctuary. Its armed forces are far larger than Syria's.

The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said on Friday his country did not want war but warned Syria not to make a "fatal mistake" by testing its resolve. Damascus has said its fire hit Turkey accidentally.

Turkish artillery bombarded Syrian military targets on Wednesday and Thursday, killing several Syrian soldiers after Syria's initial fatal bombardment.
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Story from AP and RSN

Monday October 8, 2012, 10:59 am
"War is not healthy for children and other living things."

Monday October 8, 2012, 1:01 pm
noted, thanks !

Tuesday October 9, 2012, 10:48 am
noted thanks

Tuesday October 9, 2012, 11:23 am
After the November elections the USA will most likely get involved in this conflict.

Tuesday October 9, 2012, 1:15 pm
This shows how it can get "out of hand". Hope nobody else will get involved.

Tuesday October 9, 2012, 2:46 pm
Thanks Kit for sharing - very sad! War is so not the answer!

Tuesday October 9, 2012, 4:17 pm
It is not the least bit clear that Turkey was "returning fire". Turkey is part of NATO, and NATO countries are openly funding the Syrian insurgency (terrorists, according to the US definition), who knows what they are doing covertly?

Wednesday October 10, 2012, 9:12 pm
I find it hard to believe that Syrian military is intentionally bombing Turkey territory. Last thing al-Assad wants is internationalization of the civil war. For more than a year, he has been warning Turkey and Lebanon to stay out of Syrian internal affairs. It is well known (and published in news magazines like The New York Times) that Turkey is a proxy for NATO intervention, and that only approval from UN Security Council is needed to make it open. I assume that border incidents will serve to force China and Russia (both permanent UN SC members with veto vote) to approve UN intervention in Syria, under humanitarian pretext, of course.

To get back to Syria's shelling on Turkey: these countries share a long border in sparsely inhabited area. It was used to send weapons to Syrian "peaceful" protesters, to place boot-camps for insurgents' training, and lately to host refugees from Syria. Any prolonged existence of these installations might undermine Turkey's internal stability, thus it is clear why Turkey will do everything to prevent it.

Sunday events just raised stakes on the table, and this is worrisome.