Turkey Warns of Stronger Response if Syria Shelling Goes on
Turkey's top military commander on Wednesday warned of a stronger response if Syrian shells continued to land on Turkish soil, the private NTV television network reported amid fears of a cross-border escalation of Syria's civil war.
"We have retaliated (for Syrian shelling) and if it continues, we'll respond more strongly," Armed forces chief of staff General Necdet Ozel said in Akcakale, a border town where five civilians were killed by Syrian shelling last week.
The military chief was inspecting troops on a tour of the heavily fortified border region after a number of shells landed on Turkish soil, triggering retaliatory fire from Turkey.
Ozel said the Turkish counter-shelling targeting Syrian military positions caused serious losses, without elaborating, according to NTV.
After the deadly shelling in Akcakale last Wednesday, the Turkish parliament gave the government the green light to use military force if necessary against one-time ally Syria.
Turkey and Syria have been firing artillery and mortars across their volatile border since last week, with every single shell fired by Syrian troops met with retaliation from Turkish border units.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has led internationals calls for President Bashar Assad to quit, has said Turkey has no intention of starting a war with Syria but warned the regime in Damascus not to push Turkey's limits.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned Monday that there was a growing risk that the conflict in Syria, now in its 19th month, could spill over into neighboring Turkey and Lebanon.
Source: Agence France Presse
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