ISTANBUL: Turkey’s military will respond with greater force if shelling from Syria continues to spill over the border, its chief of general staff said yesterday. “We responded but if it continues we will respond with greater force,” state television TRT quoted General Necdet Ozel as saying. Turkey’s armed forces have been responding in kind in the past week to gunfire and shelling across the border from Syria. The military chief was inspecting troops on a tour of the heavily fortified border region where a number of shells fired from Syria have fallen, prompting fears of an escalation of the Syria conflict.
Following the deadly shelling in Akcakale last Wednesday, the Turkish parliament approved the use of military force if necessary against one-time ally Syria. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also warned Damascus not to test Turkey’s patience and vowed that Ankara would not tolerate such acts. NATO meanwhile said Tuesday that it has plans in place to protect and defend Turkey if necessary after almost a week of cross-border shelling between the two countries.
A senior US defence official said the alliance would likely react if Turkey made a request for assistance.
“The allies would have to hear what Turkey says and decide what kind of assistance the alliance should bring,” he said. “We engage with Turkey to make sure that should the time come where Turkey needs help we’re able to do what we can.”
On Monday, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said the “worst-case scenarios” were now playing out in Syria and that Turkey would do everything necessary to protect itself.
Gul said that the violence in Turkey’s southern neighbour, where a revolt against Assad has evolved into a civil war that threatens to draw in regional powers, could not go on indefinitely.
Turkey would have to request military assistance under NATO’s collective defence provisions, known as Article 5 - in which an attack on one member is viewed as an attack on all.
It has only been used once before, after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, and would involve helping Turkey, not necessarily intervening in Syria.
The head of Nato, confirming that the 28-member military alliance had plans in place to defend Turkey, would not say what these were.
“Taking into account the situation at our southeastern border, we have taken the steps necessary to make sure that we have all plans in place to protect and defend Turkey,” Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters during a meeting of the alliance’s defence ministers in Brussels. “But I think you understand why we can’t go into details.”
Rasmussen commended the Turkish government for its restraint, saying he hoped the parties would avoid an escalation of the crisis.
“Obviously Turkey has a right to defend herself within international law,” he said. “I would add to that that obviously Turkey can rely on NATO solidarity.”
He added that it would be surprising if NATO did not have plans to defend and protect all its allies.
Turkey joined Nato - which was set up to defend the territory of its allies - in 1952.
Russia, which has blocked UN Security Council resolutions that would allow greater western intervention in Syria, warned Nato not to intervene after the Syrian shelling.
“We expect Nato not to use this tragic incident as a pretext for interfering in the Syrian conflict,” Russia’s Acting Permanent Representative to NATO Nikolay Korchunov said in a written reply to questions from Reuters.
“Our only hope is that this tragedy is not used as casus belli and won’t be copied to provoke unilateral reaction from Turkey,” he said.
UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will visit Syria soon to try to persuade Bashar Al Assad’s government to call an immediate ceasefire, Ban said on Tuesday. Efforts by Brahimi’s predecessor, Kofi Annan, to engineer a truce collapsed within days.
