Turkish parliament approved military action against Syria
The bill was passed by a confident majority and gives the government the authority, if necessary, to send troops to Syria or carry out strikes against targets in Syria.
On Wednesday, the territory of Turkey was shelled by Syria, killing five people - members of one family.
In response, Turkish artillery shelled the territory of Syria. According to the Syrian opposition, this shelling led to the death of several Syrian soldiers.
However, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Beshir Atalay said that the decision of the parliament is a preventive measure, and not a mandate to unleash a war.
“This mandate is not a war mandate. But it must be in our hands so that we can use it to protect Turkey’s interests,” Atalay said in a television interview, adding that the government intends to act in coordination with international organizations.
Apologies
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister said that Syria claimed responsibility for the shelling and apologized: "Syria said [...] that nothing like this will happen again. That's good."
Beshir Atalay also said that the UN acted as a mediator in the negotiations with Syria.
Earlier, Turkey appealed to the UN Security Council with a request to discuss the actions of Syria and take the "necessary measures" to stop the Syrian "aggression."
Border crossing Akchakale continues to function
At the request of Turkey, an urgent NATO meeting at ambassadorial level was convened in Brussels, at which the alliance "continued to support Turkey, demanded an immediate cessation of aggressive actions against its ally, and urges the Syrian authorities to end a flagrant violation of international law."
In the summer and autumn of 2011, the Turkish armed forces had already launched air strikes on Iraqi territory in pursuit of Kurdish militants, whose bases were located in that country.
Since the beginning of the uprising against the rule of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Turkey’s territory has been shelled several times, but the last incident was the most serious.
The shell landed in the courtyard of a house in the town of Akchakala on Wednesday evening, while the family living there was preparing to have dinner. Mother died with three children, as well as her sister.
Representatives of the Turkish security services said that on Thursday the Turkish artillery fired targets in Syria, located in the Tal Abyad area, 10 km from the border.
"Our armed forces in the border areas immediately responded to this heinous attack," the office of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement. "Turkey will not leave such a response from the Syrian regime unanswered against our national security."
Syrian Minister of Information Omran Zoabi expressed "sincere condolences to the families of the victims and our friends, the Turkish people."
After the incident, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu contacted UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN Special Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi and NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
Ban Ki-moon called on Damascus to respect the territorial sovereignty of its neighbors, saying that "the Syrian conflict threatens not only the security of the Syrian people, but increasingly harms its neighbors."
According to the NATO spokesman, Rasmussen said in an interview with the Turkish Foreign Minister that he strongly condemns the incident and continues to "closely and with great concern" follow developments in the region.
NATO Secretary General has repeatedly stated that the alliance does not intend to intervene in the events in Syria, but is ready to defend Turkey if necessary.
Information