UN condemns Syrian attack on Turkish town
People in Turkey told the BBC's James Reynolds they were "scared to death"
The UN Security Council has condemned a Syrian mortar attack on a Turkish border town that killed five civilians.
The statement said the attack underscored the grave impact the Syrian crisis was having on "regional peace and stability".
An earlier draft referring to "international peace and security" was blocked by Syria's ally Russia.
Turkey's parliament has authorised military action inside Syria, a move that triggered anti-war protests.
However, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his country does not intend to start a war with Syria.
The BBC's Barbara Plett at the UN says the statement was strongly worded but was still the result of a compromise with Russia, which has blocked previous resolutions condemning Damascus.
Russia had tried but failed to include language apparently aimed at balancing the Syrian attack with Turkey's military response, she says.
Threat or not?
But Russia did succeed in blocking a draft version that called the mortar attack "a threat to international peace and security", a phrase our correspondent says could be used to justify greater Security Council involvement.
We never want to fight with the Syrian people or go to war with them. We have lived with them for centuries”
Ufuk Yigit
Turkish resident of Izmir
The final version said the incident "highlighted the grave impact the crisis in Syria has on the security of its neighbours and on regional peace and stability".
It demanded that "such violations of international law stop immediately and are not repeated".
It called on the Syrian government to "fully respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbours" and urged "restraint".
Syria's UN envoy Bashar Jaafari said his government was not seeking escalation with Turkey.
He criticised the Security Council's silence on "suicide terrorist attacks that struck the city of Aleppo" that killed dozens of Syrians on the same day as the Turkish incident.
A senior diplomat said the Security Council would address that issue on Friday.
On Thursday, Turkey's parliament authorised troops to launch cross-border operations against Syria for a period of one year.
The emergency vote followed the shelling of the Turkish town of Akcakale in which two women and three children were killed.
Turkey's immediate response was to shell targets inside Syria.
Funerals have been held in the Turkish town of Akcakale for the victims of the Syrian attack
Mr Erdogan said at a news conference in Akcakale on Thursday evening: "We want peace and security and nothing else. We could never be interested in something like starting a war."
But he added: "The Turkish Republic is a state capable of defending its citizens and borders. Nobody should try and test our determination on this subject."
On Thursday evening thousands of people held an anti-war rally in Istanbul's Taksim Square.
Demonstrators chanted: "No to war! Peace now! We won't be soldiers of imperialists!"
Some banners accused Mr Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) of being a stooge of the US.
Bedri Baykam, a Turkish artist and activist, said: "[The] United States wants Turkey to enter war against Syria because there are elections coming in the United States. Obama doesn't want to send American troops so the Turkish army serves as their tool but we don't want to be part of the bloodshed in the Middle East."
Other, smaller anti-war protests were reported in Izmir, Mersin, Eskisehir and other cities and towns.
Mr Jaafari said his country had offered condolences over the deaths but not an apology because an inquiry into the incident had not been completed.
Turkey has been a critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since anti-government protests erupted there more than a year ago.
Ankara has openly supported the armed rebellion and called for the end to the regime.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
05102012
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
No comments:
Post a Comment