Turkey fired on Syrian targets for the second day Thursday after a shell fired from inside Syria killed five civilians and wounded at least 10 others in a Turkish border town, The Associated Press reports.
And Turkey's parliament passed a mandate during an emergency session that authorizes its military to send troops into Syria or for warplanes to strike Syrian targets whenever it deems it necessary, The Times of Israel reports.
The bill does not constitute a declaration of war but does enable the government freedom in deciding how to react to possible further escalation.
It calls for “a one-year-long permission to make the necessary arrangements for sending the Turkish Armed Forces” into Syria in light of the “negative impact of the ongoing crisis in Syria on our national security, as well as on regional stability and security.”
“Statements and declarations did not seem to do the work anymore, so Turkey feels compelled to act military, even if in a limited manner,” Turkish affairs expert Dr. Nimrod Goren told The Times of Israel.
Wednesday’s incident was the first in which Turkish civilians were killed as a consequence of the civil war raging in Syria.
Syria has apologized:
BREAKING: Turkey says Syria admits shelling Turkish village, apologizes for civilian deaths.
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 4, 2012
In June Turkey reinforced its border with anti-aircraft missiles and threatened to target any approaching Syrian military after Syrian forces shot down a Turkish fighter jet and killed its two pilots.
More than 90,000 Syrian refugees are currently living in camps along the border. The command headquarters of the opposition Free Syrian Army was in Turkey before being moved to Syria in September.
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