Turkey’s Parliament on October 4 authorised military action against Syria but insisted it was not a war mandate following deadly cross-border fire that sent tensions soaring. The vote came as Turkey retaliated for the shelling that killed five Turkish nationals. Western powers urged restraint, with the United States saying it was outraged and France cautioning that the incident threatened global security.
In Ankara, the Turkish Parliament met behind closed doors in an emergency session and agreed to the government’s request to authorise military operations inside Syrian territory.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay told reporters that Syria had admitted responsibility for the shelling. He stressed that the Parliament’s decision was “not a war mandate”, adding however that it would have a deterrent effect. “Turkey has no interest in a war with Syria. But Turkey is capable of protecting its borders and will retaliate when necessary,” Ibrahim Kalin, chief advisor to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said earlier on a website.
Damascus’s close ally Russia said Syria had admitted that the deadly shelling was “a tragic accident”.
It marked the first time that Turkish citizens had been killed by Syrian fire since the uprising against Assad’s regime began in March 2011. Several Syrian soldiers were killed as a result of the Turkish riposte, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog said, without giving an exact figure.
Turkey had demanded that the UN Security Council take action against Damascus over Wednesday’s fire, which drew sharp Western condemnation.