ISTANBUL: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday his country was “not far” from war with Syria following cross-border attacks this week - words which highlighted the danger that the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Al Asaad will drag in its neighbours.
In a belligerent speech to a crowd in Istanbul, Erdogan warned the Assad government it would be making a fatal mistake if it picked a fight with Turkey.
The speech followed a Syrian mortar barrage on a town in southeast Turkey that killed five people on Tuesday. Erdogan warned Syria that it would pay a big price for further attacks.
“I am calling once more on the Assad regime and its supporters: Don’t dare to test Turkey’s patience,” Erdogan told a large crowd of supporters of his ruling AKP party in Istanbul.
Turkish artillery bombarded Syrian military targets on Wednesday and Thursday in response, killing several Syrian soldiers, and the Turkish parliament has authorised cross-border military action in the event of further aggression. “We are not interested in war, but we’re not far from it either,” 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.”
At the United Nations, the Security Council condemned the Syrian attack and demanded that such violations of international law stop immediately. The United States has said it stands by its Nato ally’s right to defend itself against aggression spilling over from Syria’s war. The cross-border violence was the most serious so far in the conflict, now in its 19th month, and underscored how it could flare across the region. Turkey, once an Assad ally and now a leading voice in calls for him to quit, shelters more than 90,000 Syrian refugees in camps on its territory and has allowed rebel army leaders sanctuary. Violence has also spilled over into Lebanon.
More than 30,000 people have been killed in the revolt against Assad, which began with peaceful street protests but is now a full-scale civil war also fought on sectarian lines. Across the country about 180 people were killed in violence on Thursday, including 48 government soldiers, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The rebels said they had captured an air defence base with a cache of missiles outside Damascus on Thursday, a boost to their campaign after a series of setbacks in the capital.
Video posted on YouTube of the aftermath of the assault showed dozens of rebels dressed in army fatigues celebrating as black smoke rose from a military installation behind them. A middle-aged man holding a rifle says the attack was carried out by a rebel battalion from the town of Douma. It also showed rebels at a weapons cache which included what appeared to be part of a surface-to-air missile.
Syria’s ally Russia appealed to Turkey yesterday to stay calm and avoid any action that could increase tension with Syria after a series of cross-border attacks provoked stern warnings from Ankara. The Russian statement was a response to the Turkish parliament’s decision authorising cross-border military action in the event of further aggression.
“We express the hope that the Turkish side will show restraint and will not take any steps that would lead to further aggravation of the situation in the region,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Russia said it had received assurances from Damascus that the strike on Turkey had been a tragic accident but Erdogan dismissed it, saying this was the eighth time Syrian mortar rounds had hit Turkish ground.
Turkey has made clear it is ready to launch retaliatory strikes again if the war spills over the border but it has also said it will act under international law and in coordination with other foreign powers. Erdogan has said the parliamentary vote was a deterrent and he was not interested in war.
Reuters
