SNC: Assad Shelled Turkey to Export Syrian Crisis
The head of Syria's main opposition coalition on Friday accused the Damascus regime of trying to spread the unrest in the country to the region, branding the deadly shelling of a Turkish town "a regime plan".
"This incident was a Syrian regime plan," Syrian National Council Chief Abdel Basset Sayda told reporters at a press conference in Istanbul, referring to the Syrian shelling that left five Turks dead in a nearby border town on Wednesday.
"The regime is trying to export the Syrian crisis. He (Syrian President Bashar Assad) thinks, that way, he can transform the conflict into a regional one."
Already tense relations between Turkey and Syria hit their lowest following Wednesday's Syrian fire that landed in the border town of Akcakale, killing two women and three children.
It was the first time Turkish nationals were killed by Syrian fire since the uprising in Syria began in March 2011.
Turkish army immediately responded, with parliament passing a mandate enabling cross-border operations inside Syria on grounds of establishing "national security".
But Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan assured in a speech Thursday that his country "has no intentions to go to war with Syria".
The Istanbul-based SNC also announced it has completed reforms to broaden its base and become more inclusive of the fragmented Syrian opposition.
The umbrella group has opened its doors to 39 new local revolutionary movements, which operate on the ground in Syria, and they now make up one third of the council, according to Samir Nashar from the SNC's executive committee.
Twenty five new political groups from all ends of the Syrian political spectrum have also joined the ranks, increasing the weight of the "politicians" among the board members to 45 percent.
Nashar added that 600 SNC representatives would meet in mid-October in Doha.
Source: Agence France Presse
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