Turkey renewed cross-border attacks in Syria on Thursday, even as a government official said the country has “no interest in war with Syria.”
The attacks began Wednesday when Turkey fired on Syrian government targets in retaliation for artillery fire that struck the Turkish border town of Akcakale and killed at least five people.
It was the first time that Turkey fired into Syria during the 18-month-long crisis there. Now, the cross-border attacks are raising fears that the spillover from Syria’s civil war could ignite a wider regional conflict.
The United Nations and Russia weighed in on the situation, as Turkish lawmakers were set to gather for an emergency session.
Syria and Turkey once enjoyed a cozy bilateral relationship that saw visa-free travel and booming trade between them.
But relations ruptured as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government continued its bloody and unrelenting crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.
Tensions flared four months ago when the Syrian government announced it had shot down a Turkish military reconnaissance jet after it crossed into Syrian airspace. Two Turkish pilots were killed in the incident. The Turkish government continues to insist the jet was shot down by a surface-to-air missile after it left Syrian airspace — claims that the Syrian government denies.
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