Turkey President Abdullah Gul Syrian-Turkish tensions, saying the crisis is the manifestation of the ‘worst-case scenario’

The boiling tension along the Turkish-Syrian border is a “realization of the worst scenario,” President Abdullah Gül warned yesterday while expressing hopes that transition will occur sooner rather than later in the Arab republic.

“The worst-case scenario is happening in Syria at the moment. Syrian people are suffering and the developments there affect Turkey. We have citizens who have lost their lives,” Gül told reporters, referring to the killing of five Turks in the border district of Akçakale last week as a result of Syrian shelling. Ties between Ankara and Damascus, which have been tense since the March 2011 start of Syria’s crisis, worsened sharply after the incident.

“In such a moment, we are always in consultations with our government and chief of General Staff. Whatever necessary is being done, as you know. And it will continue to be done,” Gül said.

Gül also said the situation in Syria could not continue in the present way. “Sooner or later, a [political] transition will occur [in Syria]. But our wish is the realization [of this transition] before more blood is shed and before Syria is ruined. I am of the opinion that the international community should actively be involved.”

The comments were Gül’s first since the Akçakale deaths and Parliament’s subsequent decision to authorize the military to conduct cross-border operations in Syria in the event of an attack against Turkey and its people.

Turkish Armed Forces head Necdet Ozel visit Syrian Border

Turkey’s Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel conducted a series of visits at the Turkish-Syrian border yesterday,

A number of high-ranking military officials accompanied Özel on the trip, which started in Adana before moving onto İskenderun. The visits were organized to investigate the situation of the military units posted in the border towns, and security measures were tight.

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