Turkey Launches Artillery Attacks Inside Syria For Fifth Day
Today’s Zaman
October 7, 2012
Turkey, Syria trade artillery fire for 5th day
Another mortar shell from Syria struck Turkish territory on Sunday, prompting a fifth straight day of…artillery fire by the Turkish military.
An Associated Press video journalist said Turkish artillery fired toward Syria minutes after a Syrian shell landed on Turkish territory.
The Syrian shell landed some 200 meters (200 yards) inside Turkey, near the border town of Akçakale. A short time later, at least six mortars could be heard fired from Turkey. It was the fifth day in a row that Turkey returned fire.
Abdulhakim Ayhan, the mayor of Akçakale, confirmed that Turkish artillery immediately returned fire.
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Hurriyet Daily News
October 7, 2012
Military forces increased on border after PYD creates protection units
ISTANBUL: Turkey has been reinforcing its position along the Syrian border after the Democratic Union Party (PYD), a group in northern Syria with purported ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), announced the establishment of Popular Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syrian towns, daily Zaman has reported.
The Turkish military alerted and deployed additional forces in eastern province of Şanlıurfa’s Suruç district, which is located opposite from the Syrian town of Ayn al-Arab, which is controlled by the PYD.
Numerous multiple missile launchers and more than 20 tanks are poised for possible danger in Suruç, while the number of soldiers has also been increased in the region, the reports said.
The border is being watched 24 hours a day and all crossings between Suruç and Ayn al-Arab have reportedly been cut since the conflict in Syria began 17 months ago.
The PYD previously established camps for fighters in Ayn al-Arab and Afrin, which are both near Turkey.
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Trend News Agency
October 7, 2012
Iranian official: NATO preparing the ground for intervention in Syria
NATO is preparing the ground for military intervention in Syria under the pretext that the security of Turkey, which is a NATO member, has been threatened, according to Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader, MNA reported.
Velayati made the remarks in Tehran on Saturday in reference to the recent exchange of artillery fire between Syria and Turkey, the Persian service of the Fars News Agency reported.
On Wednesday, NATO condemned the Syrian attack on the town of Akcakale, in southeastern Turkey, in which five Turkish citizens were killed and nine others were injured when artillery shells landed on the town, the Anadolu Agency reported.
Velayati, who formerly served as Iran’s foreign minister, said, “Today, NATO is ready to issue a threat against Syria and intends to enter Syria under the pretext that one of the members of this organization… the neighboring country, has been threatened.”
Certain Western countries are seeking to drag NATO into regional issues, he stated, adding, “The West is digging a hole so that Turkey, Syria, and the entire region will become stuck in it and the Islamic Awakening will be overshadowed. Regional countries, including Syria, Turkey, and Iraq, should remain vigilant because the United States and its allies have plots for regional countries.”
Velayati added that the first pretext provided by the West for interference in Syria’s internal affairs was that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was not responding to legitimate public demands.
“(But) when the West came to the conclusion that the people are supporters of the government, they decided to dispatch foreign mercenaries to Syria and also encouraged neighboring countries to support them,” he said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Velayati mentioned the remarks that Burhan Ghalioun, the former chairman of the Syrian National Council, made on November 30, 2011, in which he said that “there will be no special relationship with Iran” if members of the council come to power in Syria.
“These remarks revealed the hands of the Westerners in Syrian developments,” the Leader’s advisor stated.
On Iran’s stance toward Syria, Velayati said, “We have helped and are helping and will support Syria’s territorial integrity and the interests of the people and the government, provided that the reforms continue.”
