TURKEY: Heavy gunfire heard at a village bordering Syria, but no immediate reports of casualties

Record ID: 280218

  • Title: TURKEY: Heavy gunfire heard at a village bordering Syria, but no immediate reports of casualties
  • Date: 6th February 2012
  • Summary: GUVECCI, TURKEY (FEBRUARY 05, 2012) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) ====NIGHT SHOTS======= VILLAGERS WANDERING AROUND AT GUVECCI VILLAGE AS GUNFIRE AUDIO HEARD IN BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF GUVECCI VILLAGE, GUNFIRE AUDIO IN BACKGROUND MORE OF VILLAGERS MILLING AROUND, PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT HEARD FROM A DISTANCE AUDIO OF GUNFIRE IN DARKNESS ANNOUNCEMENT BEING MADE TO WARN LOCALS
  • Embargoed: 21st February 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey, Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA93CEDNPKYS05LJIL057QJ8CVI
  • Story Text: Intense gunfire rang out in Guvecci village at Turkish-Syrian border early Sunday (February 5) as bullets struck a solar heating system mounted on a village house.
    Locals gathered at village square as authorities made public announcements warning villagers against leaving their homes. Villagers said the heavy gunfire lasted 3-4 hours.
    Turkish media reported that Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was on the phone with the provincial governor who kept him abreast with the incident.
    The area, which became part of the French mandate of Syria after the 1923 collapse of the Ottoman Empire and was then given to Turkey in 1939, now shelters around 8,000 Syrian refugees, mostly living in five camps set up by the Turkish government.
    The villagers, from Syria's majority Sunni community, say they face certain danger if they go back to the homes they fled when militiamen known as Shabiha from the minority Alawite sect raided their villages and towns.
    Turkey, which courted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after he came to power in 2000, is now calling for him to step down.
    It is also giving refuge to Syrian army defectors and hosting Syria's opposition movement.
    For the past year, Ankara has been one of the most vocal critics of Assad's crackdown and has made clear that if the situation gets worse, it will push for international backing to set up a protected buffer zone for Syrians fleeing a humanitarian crisis.
    But international efforts failed when Moscow and Beijing vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution on Saturday (February 4) which would have expressed the full support for an Arab League plan that would see Assad cede power to a deputy, withdraw troops from cities and make way for democracy.
    Turkish Minister of Justice Sadullah Ergin criticised the Russian-Chinese veto of a U.N. Security Council resolution against Assad.
    "The consciousness of humanity is rising. I would like to reiterate we are saddened by the outcome of the meeting of U.N. Security council" he said.
    The United Nations says more than 5,000 people have been killed by Syrian forces. Syria says over 2,000 security forces have been killed by militants.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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