ASSAD HAS DONE IT AT LAST - HE'S ATTACKED A NATO MEMBER

Turkey Hits Targets in Syria After Attack

By JOE PARKINSON And EMRE PEKER

ISTANBUL—Turkish forces shelled targets inside Syria immediately after Syrian mortar rounds killed five people in a Turkish border town Wednesday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office said in a statement later in the day.

Turkey threatened to strike more targets inside Syria if attacks from the country are repeated, the Prime Minister's office said, adding that Turkey and the secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have agreed to convene an urgent meeting of NATO members.

Turkey's annoucement came several hours after three Syrian mortar rounds fell on Akcakale, a Turkish border town in the southern province of Sanliurfa. Five people were killed in the attack and at least a dozen woundied.

Turkey's response to the attack was in line with the rules of engagement it adopted over the summer, after Syria shot down a Turkish jet, Mr. Erdogan said.

The attack and counterattack appear to open a dangerous new chapter in relations between Turkey and Syria, which were longtime allies until Syrian President Bashar al-Assad moved to crush an uprising against him that began in early 2011.

As a NATO member, Turkey is party to the founding treaty that calls, among other things, for consultations and the possibility of collective self-defense in the event of an armed attack on a NATO member.

"The latest event was the last straw," Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said in Bursa said Wednesday. "Turkey is a sovereign country. There has been an attack against its soil and our citizens have lost their lives. There must be a response for this in international law."

Damascus would be unlikely to purposefully target Turkish civilians and risk triggering a military conflagration with Turkey when its forces are still struggling to defeat poorly armed Sunni rebels, analysts say.

NATO members, meanwhile, have little appetite to act collectively on the issue, diplomats have said.

NATO representatives met in June, at Turkey's request, following the downing of a Turkish jet by Syrian forces. After that meeting—called under Article 4 of the NATO treaty, under which an ally can request consultation when it believes its territorial integrity or security is threatened—the allies said they would "remain seized of developments" on the Turkish-Syrian border.

Three Syrian shells fell on Akcakale, a Turkish town in the southern province of Sanliurfa, shortly after 3:30 p.m. local time, sending residents scattering to find cover, said Abdulhakim Ayhan, the town's mayor.

Turkey's government hasn't said the strike was a deliberate attack by Syria's military, although forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have been shelling rebel positions close to the border region in recent weeks.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen strongly condemned the attack during a conversation late Wednesday with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, a NATO spokeswoman said. Mr. Rasmussen conveyed condolences and to the families of those killed and wounded and to the Turkish people.

"NATO continues to follow the situation closely and with great concern," the spokeswoman said. She wouldn't say whether representatives of NATO countries would meet at the alliance headquarters to discuss the incident.

The U.S. condemned the attack. "This [is a] clear violation of Turkish sovereignty," said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. She declined to say how the attack could affect dynamics between Turkey and Syria, pending what she said would be a discussion between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Mr. Davutoglu later Wednesday.

In Ankara, Foreign Minister Davutoglu also called United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the U.N.'s Special Envoy on Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi. Turkey's parliament cancelled its program for Thursday and will convene for a special session on Syria at 10 a.m. in Ankara.

bb1 wrote:Oh, good God, that's done it now.

bb1 wrote:Thanks, LL, I had posted before the full report.

I hope it doesn't spiral out of control.

bb1 wrote:Oh, I can see Assad being really, really scared of Clegg. Not.

Turkey renews shelling of Syrian targets
Retaliation follows mortar attack from Syrian territory that killed family of five in border town of Akcakale.
Last Modified: 04 Oct 2012 06:44

Turkish armed forces have launched artillery attacks on a Syrian area near its border in response to a mortar attack which killed five members of the same family in southeastern Turkey.

"Artillery fire resumed at 03:00 GMT this [Thursday] morning," a source told AFP news agency on condition of anonymity.

There are unconfirmed reports that several Syrian troops were killed as a result of overnight Turkish shelling across the border in Tal al-Abyad.

The government in Ankara is expected to ask the parliament on Thursday to authorise cross-border military operations in Syria, according to Turkish media reports.

'Violation of international law'

In a statement on Wednesday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, said the attacks, carried out following radar tracking, were within the rules of engagement.

Separately, Bulent Arinc, the deputy prime minister, said: "There has been an attack on Turkey's mainland and its citizens lost their lives. There is definitely a response to it in international law ... We are not blinded by rage, but we will protect our rights to the end in the face of such an attack on our soil that killed our people."

Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons, reporting from Antakya on the Turkish-Syrian border, said Arinc's mention of "certain responsibilities" contained within NATO treaty articles, could mean that Turkey responded without consulting international bodies first.

Turkey has also asked the United Nations Security Council to take "necessary action" to stop Syrian aggression, calling the mortar attack "a flagrant violation of international law".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said: "Several shells from the Turkish side of the border fell on Syrian military positions near the village of Tal al-Abyad".

Western officials, from Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO secretary-general, to Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, quickly condemned the initial attack from the Syrian side of the border, which struck a house in the border town of Akcakale.

Omran Zoabi, Syrian information minister, said Damascus was looking into the origin of the deadly cross-border shelling.

In a statement reported by state television, Zoabi said: "Syria offers its sincere condolences to the families of the victims and to our friends the Turkish people".

bb1 wrote:...And they can throw his scrounging family on the plane with him, Lily.

bb1 wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19842941

The BBC understands two US civilian jets - one of which is registered to the US Department of Justice - are on the tarmac at an air base in eastern England.

Wonderful! He's got a seat booked on ConAir!

David R Edwards ‏@DavidREdwardsUK
1h
Abu #Hamza heard singing John Denver's 'Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane Don't know when I'll be back again" as he boards plane to the US!

Lynn Mildner ‏@LYNNMILDNER
6m
How odd that those who sought to undermine our democracy with their extremism invoke it to save their sorry arses. #hamza #babar