Turkey's parliament authorizes military action in Syria-"not a war mandate"

[Glorbo]

[quote][b]Turkey's parliament has authorised troops to launch cross-border action against Syria, following Syria's deadly shelling of a Turkish town.[/b]

The bill, passed by 320 to 129, also permits strikes against Syrian targets.

[b]But Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay insisted this was a deterrent and not a mandate for war.[/b]

Turkey has been firing at targets inside Syria since Wednesday's shelling of the town of Akcakale, which killed two women and three children.

Ankara's military response marks the first time it has fired into Syria during the 18-month-long unrest there.

Several Syrian troops were killed by Turkish fire, a UK-based Syrian activist group said.

[b]Apology[/b]
The Turkish parliament passed the bill in a closed-doors emergency session.

It permits military action, if required by the government, for the period of one year.

However, Mr Atalay insisted the priority was to act in co-ordination with international bodies.

[h2]Akcakale[/h2]
[img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/63280000/gif/_63280382_syria_turkey_oct12.gif[/img]
-Akcakale is a district of southern Sanliurfa province, close to the border with Syria
-The last published census in 2000 shows its population stood at just over 77,000
-It is just under 50km (31 miles) from the Syrian border town of Tall al-Abyad and about 240 km (150 miles) from Aleppo
-The area surrounding the town is known for its archaeological excavations

He told Turkish television: [b]"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."[/b]

He said Syria had accepted responsibility for the deaths.

"The Syrian side has admitted what it did and apologised," AFP news agency quoted Mr Atalay as saying.

Zeliha Timucin, her three daughters and her sister died in Akcakale when a shell fell in their courtyard as they prepared the evening meal.

They were buried in a local cemetery on Thursday.

The UN Security Council is to meet later, following a Turkish request for it to take "necessary action" to stop Syrian "aggression".

However, Mr Atalay said Syria had reassured the UN that "such an incident will not occur again".

Nato has held an urgent meeting to support Turkey, demanding "the immediate cessation of such aggressive acts against an ally".

The US, the UK, France and the European Union have already condemned Syria's actions.

Russia, which is allied to President Bashar al-Assad's government, has asked Damascus to acknowledge officially that the cross-border attack was "a tragic accident" which will not happen again.

Many social media users in Turkey have been reacting strongly against the possibility of war with Syria.

Hashtags such as #notowar drew a lot of attention.

One user, coymak, tweeted: "There is no victory in war, only victory is the happiness in the eye of the children when it is ended!"

There were many tweets referring to the call for an anti-war rally in central Istanbul on Thursday evening.

In Syria itself as many as 21 members of Syria's elite Republican Guards have been killed in an explosion and firefight in the Qudsaya district of Damascus, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) told the BBC.

The SOHR is one of the most prominent organisations documenting and reporting incidents and casualties in the Syrian conflict. The group says its reports are impartial, though its information cannot be independently verified.[/quote]

[url]http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-19830928[/url]

[Burgervich]

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