Turkish soldiers walk as they stand guard on the Turkish-Syrian border near the Akcakale border crossing, southern Sanliurfa province, October 5, 2012 (Reuters)
Oct 06, 2012
Turkey returned fire into Syria Saturday in retaliation for another round of mortar bombs shot from Syria that landed near a small village in Turkey on Saturday morning, Reuters is reporting.
No causalities have been reported; however, the exchange comes one day after Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan warned the Syrian government that it will not rule out war with the country if provoked.
Officials said the bombs appeared to have been aimed by the Syrian government at rebels along the border. Syria also previously stated that a previous round of shellings, which killed five Turkish civilians, was also a mistake.
However, Erdogan said on Friday that Syria must not to make the "fatal mistake" of testing his patience.
"Those who attempt to test Turkey's deterrence, its decisiveness, its capacity, I say here they are making a fatal mistake," he said in a speech to a crowd in Istanbul.
"We are not interested in war, but we're not far from war either. This nation has come to where it is today having gone through intercontinental wars," he said.
The exchange brought on the fourth day of strikes between the two nations.
On Friday, the US said it expressed support for Turkey, saying that "action is appropriate."
"We are outraged by the Syrian government's actions along the Turkish border. We stand with our Turkish allies," Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters.
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Turkey returned fire into Syria Saturday in retaliation for another round of mortar bombs shot from Syria that landed near a small village in Turkey on Saturday morning, Reuters is reporting.
No causalities have been reported; however, the exchange comes one day after Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan warned the Syrian government that it will not rule out war with the country if provoked.
Officials said the bombs appeared to have been aimed by the Syrian government at rebels along the border. Syria also previously stated that a previous round of shellings, which killed five Turkish civilians, was also a mistake.
However, Erdogan said on Friday that Syria must not to make the "fatal mistake" of testing his patience.
"Those who attempt to test Turkey's deterrence, its decisiveness, its capacity, I say here they are making a fatal mistake," he said in a speech to a crowd in Istanbul.
"We are not interested in war, but we're not far from war either. This nation has come to where it is today having gone through intercontinental wars," he said.
The exchange brought on the fourth day of strikes between the two nations.
On Friday, the US said it expressed support for Turkey, saying that "action is appropriate."
"We are outraged by the Syrian government's actions along the Turkish border. We stand with our Turkish allies," Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters.
Turkey returned fire into Syria Saturday in retaliation for another round of mortar bombs shot from Syria that landed near a small village in Turkey on Saturday morning, Reuters is reporting.
No causalities have been reported; however, the exchange comes one day after Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan warned the Syrian government that it will not rule out war with the country if provoked.
Officials said the bombs appeared to have been aimed by the Syrian government at rebels along the border. Syria also previously stated that a previous round of shellings, which killed five Turkish civilians, was also a mistake.
However, Erdogan said on Friday that Syria must not to make the "fatal mistake" of testing his patience.
"Those who attempt to test Turkey's deterrence, its decisiveness, its capacity, I say here they are making a fatal mistake," he said in a speech to a crowd in Istanbul.
"We are not interested in war, but we're not far from war either. This nation has come to where it is today having gone through intercontinental wars," he said.
The exchange brought on the fourth day of strikes between the two nations.
On Friday, the US said it expressed support for Turkey, saying that "action is appropriate."
"We are outraged by the Syrian government's actions along the Turkish border. We stand with our Turkish allies," Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.