BEIRUT--Turkey resumed retaliatory shelling Thursday of targets inside neighboring Syria, but a top Turkish official said Ankara had “no interest” in declaring war on Syria, according to various reports.
Turkey began artillery attacks Wednesday on Syrian positions near the border district of Tal Abyad, Syrian opposition representatives say. The Turkish bombardment reportedly continued early Thursday.
A top aide to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on his Twitter account that a full-blown war with Syria was not Ankara’s aim, reported Turkey’s English-language Hurriyet Daily News on its website.
“Turkey has no interest in a war with Syria,” wrote Ibrahim Kalin, a senior advisor to the Turkish prime minister, Hurriyet reported. “But Turkey is capable of protecting its borders and will retaliate when necessary.”
Turkish officials seemed satisfied that the retaliatory volleys had signaled their outrage about the Syrian shelling and loss of Turkish life. Turkey’s response followed many Syrian actions that the Turks viewed as provocative, including Syria’s downing of a Turkish fighter jet over the eastern Mediterranean in June, killing two Turkish pilots.
Still unclear is how Syria will respond to the Turkish bombardment.
There have been unconfirmed reports of casualties on the Syrian side from the Turkish shelling. The duration of Turkey’s salvos will likely play a role in how Syria will proceed.
So far, Damascus has reacted in restrained fashion. Syria has said it is investigating the incident that killed the Turkish citizens and passed on “condolences” to the Turkish people.
Many in Turkey were enraged that Turks had been killed, a reaction that likely figured in Ankara’s decision to strike back. Reports in the Turkish media indicate that many view the strike on Turkish territory as deliberate, and not as a case of errant shelling from the Syrian side.
International leaders, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have condemned Syria for its role in the incident. Clinton called the crisis “a very dangerous situation” and said Washington was consulting with Ankara, its ally in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Turkey was asking that the United Nations take “necessary action,” but any U.N. move beyond a verbal condemnation of Syria seemed unlikely, analysts said. The United States and other nations have shown little inclination in become directly embroiled in the bloody Syrian conflict, now in its 18th month.
Turkish lawmakers were scheduled to extend a legal authorization allowing the Turkish military to carry out cross-border operations. But experts say Turkey is unlikely to move to deploy troops inside Syria, an action that would inevitably lead to a wider conflict between two major military powers.
The Turkish artillery attacks are said to have targeted Syrian military positions in the border zone of Tal Abyad, which is is adjacent to the southeastern Turkish town of Akcakale. On Wednesday, Turkish authorities say, Syrian military shelling from Tal Abyad hit a residential district of Akcakale, killing five people, including three children, and injuring at least eight others, among them several police officers. Turkish television aired dramatic footage of panic in Ackakale following the shelling, including scenes of wounded Turkish citizens and efforts to rescue them.
Turkey and Syria share a more than 500-mile border, parts of which have become engulfed in the Syrian conflict, as rebels fight to oust Syrian President Bahsar Assad. Turkey once viewed Assad as close ally, but binational relations have deteriorated sharply.
The conflict in Syria has prompted Turkish officials to call on Assad to step down. Turkey has provided a safe haven for Syria's armed and political opposition. Syria accuses Turkey of harboring and arming "terrorists," a charge denied by Ankara.
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--Patrick J. McDonnell and Rima Marrouch
Photo: People run for cover after a mortar bomb fired from Syria hit Turkey's southeastern border region of Akcakale. Credit: EPA
