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ANKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday his country has no intention of going to war with Syria, hours after the parliament in Ankara authorised possible cross-border attacks.
"We have no intention of starting a war with Syria," Erdogan said at a press conference amid anger over Syrian shelling that killed five Turkish nationals in a town that borders Syria.
But he noted that Turkey had the might to protect its nationals and borders, if needed.
"No country should dare test our determination on that," he warned.
His comments came as the Turkish military amassed tanks and anti aircraft missiles in Akcakale town in Sanliurfa city, where the deadly incident took place on Wednesday.
It was not the first time Damascus shelling hit Turkish territory and branded it "an accident," according to Erdogan, who claimed that Turkey was previously hit seven times by Syrian shelling.
"Even today, we had a shell landing in Hatay city Altinozu district," he said.
"One time is an accident... but how is this an accident, when it happens eight times?"
Erdogan reiterated previous official remarks that the cross-border attack mandate was meant to serve as an "active deterrent" in the face of the escalating spillover of violence into Turkish territories.
"This mandate is not a war mandate, but it is in our hands to be used when need be in order to protect Turkey's own interests according to potential developments in the future," Erdogan's deputy Besir Atalay said earlier.
After UN mediation, Atalay said, the Damascus regime had admitted that it fired the shells that killed the civilians on Turkish soil, apologised for the incident and promised this would not happen again.
The parliament's green light for a possible Syria attack prompted peace demonstrations in several major Turkish cities.
Almost 1,000 mostly left-wing protesters gathered in Istanbul's iconic Taksim square Thursday evening, chanting slogans against the government for the mandate they branded a tool for "an imperialist war" against Syria.
The crowd held up banners that read "No to war!" and others that accused Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of being a United States "stooge."
A smaller crowd in Ankara was stopped by riot police earlier in the day as they tried to reach government offices to stage their protests. Police used pepper spray to disperse the protesters.
The motion, drafted hours after the Syrian shells landed in Akcakale, was passed by 320 votes in the 550-seat Turkish parliament in an urgent session held behind closed doors. 129 lawmakers voted against it.
Vetoes came from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), which branded the motion "a war initiation", and from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP).
Wednesday's killing triggered sporadic shelling from the Turkish side, with Turkish artillery hitting unspecified targets inside Syria in response. Turkish fire ceased early Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, Washington on Thursday said Turkey had taken "appropriate" and "proportional" action in firing back at Syria, but urged that tensions should not escalate.
"From our perspective, the response that Turkey made was appropriate," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, adding Ankara had long made it clear that it would respond to any violation of its territory.
"It also was designed to strengthen the deterrent effect, so that these kinds of things don't happen again, and it was proportional."
"We hope this doesn't escalate into a broader conflict, we hope that the situation de-escalates," Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters.
"We are outraged by the Syrian government actions along the the Turkish border. We stand by our Turkish allies," he insisted, adding "certainly we respect the inherent right of self-defense displayed by Turkey."
Turkey's parliament has authorized military action against Syria, but insisted it was not a mandate for war as tensions soared between the neighbors.
"The intent in sending a very strong message was to deter future such aggression," Nuland said, highlighting that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had promised to back Turkey as it seeks UN condemnation of the strike.
The United States supports "a very strong statement that makes clear who's responsible and holds them to account," Nuland said.
But Russian objections to the draft UN statement condemning Syria's shelling of Turkey meant the Security Council was still in consultations.
Asked whether there was any message to Turkey about the shelling, Nuland said: "The message is to the Syrian side that it needs to stop."
- AFP/fa
Turkey does not intend Syria war: PM Erdogan - Channel NewsAsia
"We have no intention of starting a war with Syria," Erdogan said at a press conference amid anger over Syrian shelling that killed five Turkish nationals in a town that borders Syria.
But he noted that Turkey had the might to protect its nationals and borders, if needed.
"No country should dare test our determination on that," he warned.
His comments came as the Turkish military amassed tanks and anti aircraft missiles in Akcakale town in Sanliurfa city, where the deadly incident took place on Wednesday.
It was not the first time Damascus shelling hit Turkish territory and branded it "an accident," according to Erdogan, who claimed that Turkey was previously hit seven times by Syrian shelling.
"Even today, we had a shell landing in Hatay city Altinozu district," he said.
"One time is an accident... but how is this an accident, when it happens eight times?"
Erdogan reiterated previous official remarks that the cross-border attack mandate was meant to serve as an "active deterrent" in the face of the escalating spillover of violence into Turkish territories.
"This mandate is not a war mandate, but it is in our hands to be used when need be in order to protect Turkey's own interests according to potential developments in the future," Erdogan's deputy Besir Atalay said earlier.
After UN mediation, Atalay said, the Damascus regime had admitted that it fired the shells that killed the civilians on Turkish soil, apologised for the incident and promised this would not happen again.
The parliament's green light for a possible Syria attack prompted peace demonstrations in several major Turkish cities.
Almost 1,000 mostly left-wing protesters gathered in Istanbul's iconic Taksim square Thursday evening, chanting slogans against the government for the mandate they branded a tool for "an imperialist war" against Syria.
The crowd held up banners that read "No to war!" and others that accused Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of being a United States "stooge."
A smaller crowd in Ankara was stopped by riot police earlier in the day as they tried to reach government offices to stage their protests. Police used pepper spray to disperse the protesters.
The motion, drafted hours after the Syrian shells landed in Akcakale, was passed by 320 votes in the 550-seat Turkish parliament in an urgent session held behind closed doors. 129 lawmakers voted against it.
Vetoes came from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), which branded the motion "a war initiation", and from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP).
Wednesday's killing triggered sporadic shelling from the Turkish side, with Turkish artillery hitting unspecified targets inside Syria in response. Turkish fire ceased early Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, Washington on Thursday said Turkey had taken "appropriate" and "proportional" action in firing back at Syria, but urged that tensions should not escalate.
"From our perspective, the response that Turkey made was appropriate," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, adding Ankara had long made it clear that it would respond to any violation of its territory.
"It also was designed to strengthen the deterrent effect, so that these kinds of things don't happen again, and it was proportional."
"We hope this doesn't escalate into a broader conflict, we hope that the situation de-escalates," Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters.
"We are outraged by the Syrian government actions along the the Turkish border. We stand by our Turkish allies," he insisted, adding "certainly we respect the inherent right of self-defense displayed by Turkey."
Turkey's parliament has authorized military action against Syria, but insisted it was not a mandate for war as tensions soared between the neighbors.
"The intent in sending a very strong message was to deter future such aggression," Nuland said, highlighting that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had promised to back Turkey as it seeks UN condemnation of the strike.
The United States supports "a very strong statement that makes clear who's responsible and holds them to account," Nuland said.
But Russian objections to the draft UN statement condemning Syria's shelling of Turkey meant the Security Council was still in consultations.
Asked whether there was any message to Turkey about the shelling, Nuland said: "The message is to the Syrian side that it needs to stop."
- AFP/fa
Turkey does not intend Syria war: PM Erdogan - Channel NewsAsia
