TURKEY: The Turkish-Syrian border remains calm as Turkey's military maintains a high security presence following several Syrian mortar strikes

Record ID: 281467

  • Title: TURKEY: The Turkish-Syrian border remains calm as Turkey's military maintains a high security presence following several Syrian mortar strikes
  • Date: 10th October 2012
  • Summary: HATAY PROVINCE, TURKEY (OCTOBER 9, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF LOCAL COMMANDERS DRIVING IN CONVOY
  • Embargoed: 25th October 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA7WVFN4IJ4WOX30ZHIZ4841AIF
  • Story Text: The Turkish-Syrian border remained calm on Tuesday morning (October 9) as Turkey's military maintained a high security presence following several Syrian mortar strikes over the past week.
    The Turkish chief of staff visited the Hatay region by helicopter to check the security situation along the border as Turkish soldiers maintained their patrols, and armoured personnel carriers (APCs) remained dug in and facing Syria.
    In the normally busy border town of Akcakale streets were deserted and shops remained shuttered, with one resident claiming that people were too scared to leave their homes.
    "We want this to end as soon as possible. As you can see hundreds of people usually sat here every day, but now no one, no shops are open, people are in their homes. If you ask a shopkeeper here how much they are earning every day it will not be more than five Turkish Lira,'' he said.
    A mortar fired from Syria struck an Akcakale house on Wednesday (October 3) killing five people, while another landed in the compound of the Turkish Grain Board (TGB) which is several hundred metres from Akcakale on Sunday (October 7).
    There have been six consecutive days of Turkish retaliations against incoming bombardment from northern Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad's forces have been battling rebels who control swathes of land close to the Turkish frontier, underlining Ankara's warning that it will respond with force to any violence spilling over into its territory.
    Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey does not want war, but warned Syria not to test its resolve.
    The continued exchanges are the most serious cross-border violence in Syria's revolt against Assad, which began in March last year with protests for reform but has evolved into a civil war with sectarian overtones which threatens to draw in regional powers.
    NATO member Turkey was once an ally of Assad's but turned against him after his violent response to the uprising in which activists say 30,000 people have died.
    Turkey has nearly 100,000 Syrian refugees in camps on its territory, has allowed rebel leaders sanctuary and has led calls for Assad to quit.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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