Photo Courtesy of UN Photo/Marco Castro
Five Turkish civilians were killed by Syrian mortar fire on Wednesday, with Turkey firing back across the border in some of the highest tensions to date between the neighboring countries. The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News reported that the Turkish Prime Ministry commented on the violence, calling Turkey’s return fire “self-defense.”
“These provocations against the safety of Turkey will not remain unanswered,” the Prime Ministry said of the incident, noting they attacked Syrian targets.
Following the violence, Turkey requested a meeting of powerful NATO alliance, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s Twitter Feed.
A statement released by NATO on their website called the Syrian mortar fire a “flagrant breach of international law and a clear and present danger to the security of one of its Allies.”
The group’s online pharmacy klonopin statement said they discussed the “continuous shelling of locations in Turkey adjacent to the Turkish-Syrian border by the Syrian regime forces,” and noted that the attack on Wednesday “constitutes a cause of greatest concern for, and is strongly condemned by, all Allies.”
Said the NATO statement, “In the spirit of indivisibility of security and solidarity deriving from the Washington Treaty, the Alliance continues to stand by Turkey and demands the immediate cessation of such aggressive acts against an Ally and urges the Syrian regime to put an end to flagrant violations of international law.”
This isn’t the first time Syrian fire has hit Turkey, including accusations over the Syrian downing of a Turkish plane.
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, October 3, 2012)