Turkey retaliates by attacking Syria for sixth straight day

Turkey launched another artillery attack against the cities of Syria near its border on Monday, marking the sixth consecutive day of retaliation by the Turkish army. The answer came after a new mortar launched from Syrian territory have hit a rural area in the province of Hatay in the south of the country. The President of Turkey, Abdullah Gul urged the international community to support and lamented what he called the contamination of neighboring countries with the violence of war civl Syrian. "This scenario was the most feared," he said. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon also expressed concern at the escalation of violence between the two countries and classified the situation as "very dangerous". According to reports in the Turkish state news agency Anadolu, the mortar launched by Syria on Monday hit a cotton plantation near the city of Altinozu. Several people worked on site, but no one was injured. The recurrence of attacks of recent days suggest that the episodes are not accidental. Turkey's parliament last week had authorized military action against Syria, a day after the first mortar Syria have reached a Turkish city on the border. The measure, approved by 320 votes in favor and rejected by 129 MPs, gives the government for one year, the authority to send troops to Syria or bomb targets in the neighboring country. The Turkish deputy prime minister, Besir Atalay, said the move was not a declaration of war against Syria, but rather a way of trying to deter attacks from the neighboring country. "There is a law of war," said Atalay, saying that Turkey's priority is to act in coordination with international bodies.