SyriaTurkey’s parliament authorizes military action against Syria
Heavy Turkish artillery attacks against Syrian military targets continue for a second day, following a Wednesday’s mortar attack from inside Syria which killed five Turkish civilians; unconfirmed reports talk of a large number of Syrian military casualties; the Turkish government asked parliament for authorization to send ground units into Syria to create a buffer zone by establishing posts in strategic locations along the border, up to six miles deep inside Syria, in order to prevent similar attacks in the future; the Turkish parliament approved the request; the buffer zone, protected by the Turkish air force, will allow the anti-Assad rebels a protected areas from which to launch operations against the regime
The Turkish parliament has approved, in a vote of 320-129, a request by the government to send Turkish troops into Syria to create a buffer zone by establishing posts in strategic locations along the border, up to six miles deep inside Syria, in order to prevent similar attacks in the future.
The parliamentary vote also authorizes the government to use the Turkish air force to attack Syrian targets.
Turkish artillery units this morning continued their heavy shelling of Syrian military bases and posts inside Syria for a second day. The shelling is aimed at targets in and around Tel Abeid, an area about six miles south of the Turkish-Syrian border.
There were unconfirmed reports of a large number of Syrian military casualties as a result of the heavy Turkis artillery barrages.
The Turkish shelling of Syrian targets began yesterday (Wednesday) after a mortar attack from inside Syria into Turkey killed five Turkish civilians and injured eight.
No one took responsibility for the mortar attack, but sources in Turkey believe it was fired by Kurdish separatists who now enjoy a haven in northeast Syria, where 1.4 million Kurds have been informally given autonomy by the Assad regime in exchange for not supporting the anti-government rebellion.
The Syrian government has accused the anti-government rebels of creating a “provocation” by firing into Turkey in the hope of drawing Turkey more deeply into the events unfolding in Syria.
A Turkish government official said the shelling is a “warning” to the Assad regime.
The UN security council will meet later today, at Turkey’s request, to debate measures to stop Syrian “aggression.”
Sources in Washington believe that at least in part, the Turkish military action aims to create a zone of immunity along the Turkish-Syrian border, a zone protected by the Turkish air force, which will allow the anti-Assad rebels a protected areas from which to launch operations against the regime.
News have also leaked that U.S. intelligence has concluded, and reported to President Barack Obama, that the end of the Bashar Assad regime is now within site, with the intelligence analysts concluding that Assad would be forced out of power sometime within six months at the latest.
