Iran And Turkey Join Syria Peace Envoy

Beirut, Lebanon — Iran declared support on Wednesday for the new Syria peace envoy’s cease-fire proposal, joining Turkey in a rare moment of accord between two of the regional powers backing opposite sides in the 19-month conflict that has pitted the Syrian government against an array of armed opponents.

But the Syrian government expressed skepticism that rebels would honor a cease-fire, and the peace envoy,Lakhdar Brahimi, who represents both the United Nations and the Arab League, said a temporary halt to the fighting would constitute only a tiny step toward resolving the conflict, which has left more than 20,000 people dead.

A veteran Algerian statesman who has been on the job for less than two months, Mr. Brahimi has spent the last several days conferring with Middle East leaders about ways to break the Syria impasse. His predecessor, Kofi Annan, resigned in frustration at the end of August after his proposed peace plan slipped into seeming irrelevance.

On Monday, Mr. Brahimi proposed a cease-fire during the three-day Muslim holiday of Id al-Adha, which begins Oct. 26, hoping that a religious reprieve universally respected by Muslims could be the basis not only for a pause in the fighting but perhaps the beginnings of a dialogue in Syria.

Sunni Muslims constitute most of the Syrian population and virtually the entire insurgency, while President Bashar al-Assad is a member of the ruling Alawite sect, a Shiite offshoot. The country is home to a variety of other religious minorities, including a significant Christian population.

Both Turkey and Iran publicly endorsed Mr. Brahimi’s effort on Wednesday. Those endorsements were significant because Iran is the most influential regional supporter of Mr. Assad’s, while Turkey supports Mr. Assad’s armed adversaries, is host to more than 100,000 Syrian refugees and has repeatedly called on Mr. Assad to resign.

In the past few weeks Turkey also has banned Syrian aircraft, moved armed forces close to its 550-mile border with Syria and engaged Syrian gunners in sporadic cross-border shelling, raising fears that the conflict in Syria could turn into a regional war.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, who met this week with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey at a regional summit meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, was quoted by Iran’s state-run news media on Wednesday as saying he supported the Syria truce proposal and “any group that derives power through war and means to continue war has no future.”

The Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, was quoted by the semiofficial Anatolian News Agency of Turkey as saying a holiday cease-fire was desirable but that any longer-term truce would require “certain measures for its sustainability.”

Mr. Brahimi, who was visiting Lebanon on Wednesday, called on the Syrian government to back the cease-fire, saying he had guarantees from rebel leaders that they would observe it if the government acted first. But a Syrian government newspaper expressed doubt that insurgent units, who lack a unified command, would or could simultaneously uphold a cease-fire.

In Damascus, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Jihad Makdessi, said in a statement released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency that his government would welcome any “constructive initiative” from Mr. Brahimi, who was widely expected to travel to Syria.

But the very modesty of Mr. Brahimi’s proposal seemed to be an indication that in recent months the conflict has drifted further from resolution. Random responses from ordinary Syrians reached by telephone seemed to reflect a similar assessment.

A resident in the embattled northern city of Aleppo, who gave only a nickname, Abu al-Hassan, said he believed neither side was willing to stop shooting. “What does this even mean?” he asked. “That instead of 40 martyrs we will have 20 martyrs a day?”

A Syrian businessman based in Damascus said Mr. Brahimi’s efforts would be better spent persuading the Syrian authorities to release the thousands of people arrested or abducted by pro-government militias during the conflict. “We got used to the gunfire — no need to cease it — but we will never get used to the absence of the detained and kidnapped people,” he said.

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Syria-Turkey Tensions Rise, UN Urge For Peace

The joint special representative of the United Nations and the Arab League (AL) to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi (L) and Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi attend a joint press conference in Tehran, Iran.

DAMASCUS-- Tensions between Turkey and Syria hit a new high as Ankara announced Sunday its decision to bar Syrian civilian flights from passing over its airspace.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the decision was made based on Syria's "abusing" of civilian flights by transporting military equipment.

He added that the Syrian government had been notified on Saturday of the decision, which followed a Syrian ban that prohibited Turkish civilian flights to fly over its territories.

The tit-for-tat flight bans came after the Turkish side forcefully grounded a Syrian civilian plane last week, claiming that it carried "non-civilian cargo." Damascus denounced the move as air piracy.

The two Middle East neighbors have seen their relations fathom new lows since a shell fired from inside Syria killed five Turkish civilians early this month and prompted Turkish retaliation.

Davutoglu warned Saturday that his country, whose parliament has adopted a motion authorizing the government to send troops to foreign soil, would retaliate again if its border with Syria was violated.

Also on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi met in Tehran with Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN-Arab League (AL) joint special envoy on Syria, and the two called for a peaceful settlement of the Syria issue.

Speaking at a joint press conference, Salehi said Iran was fully prepared to help achieve a peaceful closure of the Syria issue, and the Syrian people should enjoy election freedom, a parliament and a constitution based on the will of people.

"Mr. Brahimi and we share the point that, prior to any measure (to be implemented in Syria), violence and killings should be stopped," Salehi said.

For his part, Brahimi said the UN and the AL recognized the sensitivity of the Syria crisis and emphasized an urgent solution to the current situation in the country.

The UN calls for an end to the violence in Syria and asks the opposition groups to respond positively to this initiative, Brahimi said.

Meanwhile, the security situation in Syria continued to worsen, as the country was rocked by a spate of explosions within 12 hours on Sunday.

A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-packed car before dawn in front of a residential building at the upscale district of al-Mazzeh in Damascus. No casualties were reported.

Hours later, an explosive device affixed under a civilian car went off in another part of al-Mazzeh, severely injuring a Syrian journalist. A roadside bomb went off on the southern highway of Damascus, injuring a passing-by lawyer.

The Syrian troops were preparing for a major operation to regain control over the time-honored Umayyad Mosque in the old quarter of the northern city of Aleppo, which has been under the control of armed rebels since last month, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said.

On the same day, the private Dogan news agency reported that three Turkish soldiers were wounded in clashes with smugglers on the border with Syria.

The clashes started Saturday night when smugglers carrying tea and cigarettes fired at Turkish soldiers on duty at a border post, and escaped into Syrian territory after the Turkish side fought back.

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Syrian Plane Forced To Land In Turkey

The BBC's James Reynolds said Turkish officials believe the passenger plane may have been carrying non-civilian cargo, which could mean weapons

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Turkish fighter jets have forced a Syrian passenger plane suspected of carrying weapons to land in Ankara.

Military communications devices were reportedly confiscated before the plane was allowed to leave hours later.

The Airbus A320 airliner was travelling from Moscow to Damascus with 35 passengers - far fewer than its 180 passenger capacity - and two crew.

Turkey's foreign minister said Ankara was determined to stop any transfer of weapons to Syria through its airspace.

Tensions have been high since five Turkish civilians were killed by Syrian mortar fire last week, prompting Turkey to fire into Syria for the first time since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began 19 months ago.

Earlier on Wednesday, Turkey's top military commander warned Syria that Ankara would respond with greater force if Syria continued its cross-border shelling.

Task force

Ankara had received information the Damascus-bound plane plane could be carrying "non-civilian cargo", Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told state-run television.

"We are determined to control weapons transfers to a regime that carries out such brutal massacres against civilians," said Mr Davutoglu. "It is unacceptable that such a transfer is made using our airspace.

"Today we received information this plane was carrying cargo of a nature that could not possibly be in compliance with the rules of civil aviation."

The aircraft was escorted by two Turkish jets to the capital's Esenboga airport for security checks.

Military communication devices were seized by the Turkish authorities for further examination, local media reports said.

The aircraft was allowed to take off at 02:30 (23:30 GMT on Wednesday), after several hours on the ground.

Meanwhile, the Turkish authorities have declared Syrian airspace to be unsafe and are preventing Turkish aircraft from flying over the country.

The BBC's James Reynolds in southern Turkey says Ankara clearly wants to show its own population and Syria that it is taking the threat posed by Syria extremely seriously.

If weapons are going to Syria, the Turkish government might worry that they will be fired back into its territory, our correspondent says.

Meanwhile, the US has confirmed reports it has established a military task force in Jordan.

It is monitoring the security of Syria's chemical and biological weapons as well as helping with the aid effort.

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UN Condemns Syrian Shelling Of Turkey

Turks hold banners that read " we will take you down from your throne" during a protest against Syria, in Istanbul

The UN Security Council overcame deep divisions to unanimously approve a statement on Thursday condemning Syria’s shelling of a Turkish town that killed five women and children “in the strongest terms.”

Council members managed to bridge differences between the strong statement demanded by the United States and its Western supporters and backed by their NATO ally Turkey, and a weaker text pushed by Russia, Syria’s most important ally, after negotiations that began late Wednesday and continued through Thursday.

In the press statement, which needed approval from all 15 council members, the UN’s most powerful body said the incident “highlighted the grave impact the crisis in Syria has on the security of its neighbours and on regional peace and stability.”

It also extended condolences to the families of the victims and to the government and people of Turkey.

Century Fox report: World Powers urge the Syrian Opposition to unite.

The council demanded an immediate end to such violations of international law and called on the Syrian government “to fully respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbours.” Russia’s agreement that the Syrian shelling violated international law was a key concession by Moscow.

The original Western-backed draft, proposed by Azerbaijan, condemned the shelling “in the strongest terms” and called it a violation of international law. Proposed Russian amendments never mentioned any breaches of international law, so the inclusion in the final text was a concession by Moscow.

Earlier on Thursday, Syria’s UN envoy said his government is not seeking any escalation of violence with Turkey and wants to maintain good neighbourly relations.

Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari said the government hasn’t apologised for the shelling from Syria because it is waiting for the outcome of an investigation on the source of the firing.

It urged Turkey and its other neighbours to “act wisely, rationally and responsibly” and to prevent cross-border infiltration of “terrorists and insurgents” and the smuggling of arms.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed alarm on Thursday at the escalating border tensions and warned that the risks of regional conflict and the threat to international peace is increasing, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

The UN chief called on all parties “to abandon the use of violence, exercise maximum restraint and exert all efforts to move toward a political solution,” he said.

Mr. Nesirky said Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN-Arab League envoy, has been in contact with Turkish and Syrian officials “in order to encourage an easing of tensions.”

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Turkey Strikes Back At Syria After Mortar Kills Five

(Reuters) - Turkish artillery hit targets inside Syria on Wednesday, killing several Syrian soldiers according to activists, after a mortar bomb fired from Syria killed five Turkish civilians and prompted NATO to call for an immediate end to Syria's "aggressive acts."

In the most serious cross-border escalation of the 18-month uprising in Syria, Turkey hit back at what it called "the last straw" when a mortar hit a residential neighborhood of the southern border town of Akcakale.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said several Syrian soldiers were killed in the Turkish bombardment of a military post near the Syrian town of Tel Abyad, a few miles across the frontier from Akcakale. It did not say how many soldiers died.

NATO said it stood by member-nation Turkey and urged Syria to put an end to "flagrant violations of international law."

The U.S.-led Western military alliance held an urgent late night meeting in Brussels to discuss the matter and later on Wednesday in New York, Turkey asked the U.N. Security Council to take the "necessary action" to stop Syrian aggression.

Century Fox Reports: World Powers urge the Syrian opposition to unite.

In a letter to the president of the 15-nation Security Council, Turkish U.N. Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan called the firing of the mortar bomb "a flagrant violation of international law as well as a breach of international peace and security.

U.N. diplomats said Security Council members hoped it would issue a non-binding statement on Thursday that would condemn the mortar attack "in the strongest terms" and demand an end to violations of Turkey's territorial sovereignty.

Members had hoped to issue the statement on Wednesday, but Russia - a staunch ally of Syria's, which along with China has vetoed three U.N. resolutions condemning President Bashar al-Assad's government - asked for a delay, diplomats said.

It was not clear who had fired the mortar into Turkish territory, but security sources said Turkey was increasing the number of troops along its border.

"Our armed forces in the border region responded immediately to this abominable attack in line with their rules of engagement; targets were struck through artillery fire against places in Syria identified by radar," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's office said in a statement.

"Turkey will never leave unanswered such kinds of provocation by the Syrian regime against our national security."

Syria said it was investigating the source of the mortar bomb and urged restraint. Information Minister Omran Zoabi conveyed his condolences to the Turkish people, saying his country respected the sovereignty of neighboring countries.

Turkey's parliament was due to vote on Thursday on extending a five-year-old authorization for its military to carry out cross-border operations, an agreement originally intended to allow strikes on Kurdish militant bases in northern Iraq.

That vote would now be extended to include operations in Syria, a ruling party deputy told Turkish television.

Residents of Akcakale gathered outside the local mayor's office, afraid to return to their homes as the dull thud of distant artillery fire rumbled across the town.

"We haven't been able to sleep in our own homes for 15 days, we had to sleep in our relatives' houses further away from the border because it's not safe down there," said shopkeeper Hadi Celik, 42, a father of five who was among the crowd outside the mayor's office.

Washington sees Turkey as a pivotal player in backing Syria's opposition and planning for the post-Assad era. The White House said on Wednesday it stood by "our Turkish ally." But Ankara has found itself increasingly isolated and frustrated by a lack of international consensus on how to end the conflict.

Erdogan long cultivated good relations with Assad, but became a harsh critic after Syria's popular revolt began last year, accusing him of creating a "terrorist state." Erdogan has allowed Syrian rebels to organize on Turkish soil and pushed for a foreign-protected safe zone inside Syria.

On Monday, Syria's foreign minister accused Turkey, the United States, France, Saudi Arabia and Qatar of arming and funding rebels intent on toppling Assad, a charge Ankara has repeatedly denied.

NEXT STEPS

Syria's bloodshed has crept ever closer to Turkey's border as the uprising against Assad slides into civil war.

"Over the last 20 to 25 days there have been very heavy clashes on the Syrian side. We have felt the effects of these in Akcakale," Turkish Labour Minister Faruk Celik, an MP for the province where Akcakale is located, told parliament.

Residents, infuriated by the increasing spillover of violence from Syria, took to the streets shouting protests against the local authorities after the mortar bomb struck in a residential area, killing two women and three children.

Century Fox News: Sad stories in Syria

"People here are anxious, because we got hit before," Ahmet Emin Meshurgul, local head of the Turkish Red Crescent, told Reuters. "The security forces tried to convince people to empty the neighborhood near the border, but now we've been hit right in the middle of the town."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had urged Turkey to keep all channels of communication open with Syria. He later issued a statement calling on "the Syria Government to respectfully the territorial integrity of its neighbors as well as to end the violence against the Syrian people."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed outrage at the mortar from Syria and said Washington would discuss with Ankara what the next steps should be, calling the spread of violence a "very, very dangerous situation".

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Clinton had assured him of Washington's full support at the United Nations and NATO.

NATO MEETING

Turkey's military response contrasted with its relative restraint when Syria shot down a Turkish reconnaissance jet in June. Ankara increased its military presence along its 900-km (560-mile) border with Syria and called a meeting of NATO's North Atlantic Council.

That meeting was only the second time in NATO's 63-year history that members had convened under Article 4 of its charter which provides for consultations when a member state feels its territorial integrity, political independence or security is under threat.

The same article was invoked for the meeting of NATO ambassadors in Brussels late on Wednesday, after which they said the shelling "constitutes a cause of greatest concern for, and is strongly condemned by, all allies".

"The alliance continues to stand by Turkey and demands the immediate cessation of such aggressive acts against an ally, and urges the Syrian regime to put an end to flagrant violations of international law," a statement released after the meeting added.

It said recent aggressive acts by Syria were a "clear and present danger to the security of one of (NATO's) allies".

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said after the mortar attack: "This latest incident is the last straw. Turkey is a sovereign country. Its own soil has been attacked."

"There must be a response to this under international law," he said, according to Turkey's Cihan news agency.

Some 30,000 people have been killed across Syria, activists say, in a conflict with growing sectarian overtones which threatens to draw in regional Sunni Muslim and Shi'ite powers.

Violence inside Syria intensified on Wednesday with three suicide car bombs and a mortar barrage ripping through a government-controlled district of Aleppo housing a military officers' club, killing 48 people, according to activists.

Efforts to address the conflict at the United Nations have been blocked by a standoff in the Security Council between Western powers seeking a tough stance against Assad and Russia and China, which fear a U.N. resolution against Syria would be the first step towards military intervention.

An Egyptian attempt to bring together Egypt, Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia to search for a regional solution to the crisis also appeared to be going nowhere after Saudi Arabia stayed away for a second time from a meeting of the four countries.

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