NATO ready to defend Turkey against Syrian attacks

[Ghost Dog]

Source: AP/Stars & Stripes...

BEIRUT -- NATO is ready to defend alliance member Turkey amid artillery and mortar exchanges with Syria, its top official said Tuesday, as Ankara sent additional fighter jets to reinforce an air base close to the Syria border where tensions have escalated dramatically over the past week...

... The comments by NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen were the strongest show of support to Ankara since the firing began Wednesday - though the solidarity is largely symbolic. Turkey has sought NATO backing but not direct intervention and the alliance is thought to be reluctant to get involved military at a time when its main priority is the war in Afghanistan.

Ahead of a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Fogh Rasmussen backed Turkey's right to defend itself...

... Analysts say Syria appears to be intentionally escalating tensions along the border with Turkey to send a message to its northern neighbor that it will pay a high price for its support of the Syrian rebels, hoping that will deter any foreign military intervention in the 18-month-old civil war...



Read more: http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/nato-ready-to-defend-turkey-against-syrian-attacks-1.192440

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Not sure this passes the 'smell test'...

[center][/center]

... "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...

/... http://tehrantimes.com/middle-east/102179-erdogan-asks-turks-to-be-ready-for-syria-war

[Ghost Dog]

1. "In the border area, there was no sign of any breakthrough by either side..."

... In the border area, there was no sign of any breakthrough by either side though activists said rebels killed at least 40 soldiers on Saturday in a 12-hour battle to take the village of Khirbet al-Joz.

Just outside Hacipasa, nestled among olive groves in Turkey's Hatay province, the sound of mortar fire could be heard every 10 to 15 minutes on Tuesday from around the Syrian town of Azmarin. A Syrian helicopter flew over the border.

Villagers used ropes and boats to ferry the wounded across a river into Turkey.

Rebels with AK-47s slung over their shoulders carried an Free Syrian Army officer down to the river bank on the Syrian side, using a carpet and two poles as a makeshift stretcher.

He had been shot in the chest and had a chest drain and drip attached. The rebels said they had dealt with roughly 20 wounded people and two dead on Tuesday.

The seriously wounded are ferried across to Turkey, while those less severely hurt are patched up at a makeshift first aid centre on the river bank and sent back into Syria...

/... http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/10/09/uk-syria-crisis-idUKBRE8980TU20121009

[Shuhered]

2. Once NATOs Involved

Now this is an unsettling turn of events. If NATO gets involved, someone will also back Syria's genocide-embracing Assad regime.

[Socal31]

4. I'm fairly certain all sides have had "backers" for weeks.

[Shuhered]

6. True

True, but there's a difference in the world when one backs privately versus publicly. The latter tends to be more volatile, wouldn't you agree?

[Socal31]

15. I would agree, but the Kingdom's support for the rebels, and the Persian support for Assad....

has been anything but private.

[harmonicon]

8. HAHAHA!!! (except it's not funny)

GET YOUR DAMN FACTS STRAIGHT.

Assad may be lots of different kinds of bad shit, but one thing he is not is genocidal. The "rebels," however, are far more unified in their hatred for those of the religion of the ruling minority - a minority which was often discriminated against in the past.

Does Assad want to kill all Sunnis? I somehow doubt it. Do some of (most of, possibly?) the Sunni "rebels" want to kill all Alawis? You can bet damn sure of it. Do you know that vast majorities have fled some of these cities "liberated" by rebels because they support the government and fear for their lives?

I heard an interview with one such rebel on the BBC the other day. What did he have to say? That when the war is over, they would kill everyone who had been on the other side. Isn't that just super?

NATO is already involved, whether it's publicly stated or not. Other countries (Russia, Iran) are on Assad's side, whether it's stated or not.

[Alamuti Lotus]

3. will they take Turkey to task for hosting armed groups committing terrorism in Syria?

No, of course not:--they're busy running guns and money to the same jihadi gangs. But, such is precisely what can be expected from such a rogue's gallery of hypocrites and profiteers. NATO forces are supporting many of the same organizations and commanders in Syria that they are fighting in their own criminal occupation of Afghanistan.

[glacierbay]

5. I'm trying to figure out what Syria's strategy is here?

Do they honestly think they can take on the Turkish Armed Forces? Or are they hoping that by getting into it with Turkey, they can draw the whole region into a war and deflect from the civil war inside their own country? Either way, this doesn't bode well for the region.

Hopefully cooler heads will prevail.

[Shuhered]

7. You Bet Cardinal Fan

I agree. Assad has used up about every bit of bad advice that one can take in for a lifetime. He must leave so that the country that he and his father ruined can thrive.

[glacierbay]

11. I agree.

Off topic, but my wife and I were at Busch Stadium yesterday to watch our beloved Cardinals stomp the Nationals 12-4. Great game.

[harmonicon]

9. ... or...

it's a fabrication spun to engender sympathy for the NATO/Saudi-aligned "rebels."

[glacierbay]

10. Possibly.

At this point, I just don't see a good ending to this dust up. If the region blows, expect gas prices to rise dramatically, the US dragged into another useless war, more strife worldwide, possible WW3. Like I said, hopefully cooler heads will prevail before bad shit happens.

[Alamuti Lotus]

13. You're assuming it was on purpose?

Most accounts I have read place it somewhere between "rebel fabrication" and "accident that the gov't immediately apologized for".

If the Syrian gov't was looking to draw in outside forces to its benefit, they would lob a few stray shells over the Golan, not Hatay.

[backwoodsbob]

16. so

syria accidentally bombed turkish border towns 5 days in a row?

[joshcryer]

18. LOL

It was no accident but I don't think the Syrian government has full control over their people.

[joshcryer]

17. I highly doubt Syria has full control over their fighters.

They can't stop these cross border skirmishes from happening, imo.

[cqo_000]

12. Russia Tells NATO To Stay Away From Syria

MOSCOW, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Russia told NATO and world powers on Tuesday they should not seek ways to intervene in the Syrian war or set up buffer zones between rebels and government forces.

The statements from Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov was one of Moscow's most specific warnings yet to the West and Gulf Arab leaders to keep out of the 18-month-old conflict.


"We believe both Syrian and Turkish authorities should exercise maximum restraint in this situation, taking into account the risings number of radicals among the Syrian opposition who can intentionally provoke conflicts on the border," Gatilov was quoted as saying.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/02/syria-russia-nato_n_1931707.html

[Kennah]

14. Syria-Iran-Russia versus Turkey with NATO

Wow, there's just NO chance that this could go poorly and turn into WW3.