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| Turkey and Syria exchange fire for sixth day |
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In the latest cross-border incident, a Syrian artillery shell fell on Turkey's border province of Hatay on Monday, the provincial governor's office said. The state-run Anadolu news agency said the round landed in a cotton field near the town of Altinozu. People were working in the field but no one was injured, Anadolu said.
Turkey retaliated Monday, as it did on five previous days, the governor's office said. Last week, after deadly cross-border shelling, Ankara warned Damascus that it will respond to each shell or mortar round that hits Turkish soil.
Turkey also sent more artillery to hotspots along the troubled border on Monday, Turkish media reported.
Earlier, Celalettin Lekesiz, Hatay's governor, said a total of six Syrian shells had hit the province so far, without any casualties.
It was not immediately clear if the governor's figures included Monday's shelling -- the sixth consecutive day of Turkish retaliation.
Abdullah Gul, the Turkish president, gave warning again on Monday against a spillover of the Syrian conflict into Turkey.
"Our government is in constant touch with our general staff in this process," Gul was quoted as saying by Anatolia, the state news agency.
"Whatever is necessary is being done as you already see, and will continue to be done."
On Sunday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on his nation to be prepared for a war with the neighboring Syria if need be.
"You have to be ready at every moment to go to war if it is necessary. If you are not ready for this, you are not a state, if you are not ready for this, you are not a nation,” Erdogan said in a speech.
"Nobody should attempt to test Turkey's decisiveness and sensibility,” stated the Turkish prime minister whose country is accused of being a key member of an international coalition attempting to destabilize Syria.
Tensions have been running high between Syria and Turkey, with Damascus accusing Ankara -- along with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France, and the United States -- of backing a deadly insurgency that has claimed the lives of many Syrians, including security and army personnel.
“Nobody should ask… but what will happen if a war were to begin and bring us to that point. You should be ready for it and have the memorandum in hand. What is necessary will be done if it becomes necessary," he stated.
Erdogan’s remarks came amid days of military strikes between the two countries.
On Sunday, Turkey's military fired an artillery shell into Syria shortly after a mortar round fired from Syria hit the southeastern Turkish border town of Akcakale.
On Saturday, the Turkish military fired mortar shells into Syria for the fourth day in a row after a number of projectiles slammed into the southern border province of Hatay.
Saturday’s exchange came three days after mortar shells from the Syrian side of the border killed five civilians in the town of Akcakale, which is located in Sanliurfa province in southeastern Turkey.
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.jpg "Protests have been held in Turkey against the possibility of a war with Syria as border tensions mount. (AFP photo)")