海角大神

Frightened residents of a Turkish border town shelled by聽Syria聽expressed skepticism on Friday that military and political retaliation by聽Ankara聽would succeed in deterring more deadly strikes by聽Damascus听蹿辞谤肠别蝉.

Turkish artillery bombarded Syrian military targets for a second day on Thursday, responding to the mortar fire that killed five people the day before in the southeastern town of Akcakale.

The salvoes killed several Syrian soldiers, and聽Turkey's parliament stepped up pressure on the political front by authorising cross-border military action in the event of further aggression.

In New York, the U.N.聽Security Council聽on Thursday strongly condemned the mortar attack by聽Syria聽and demanded that "such violations of international law stop immediately and are not repeated."

Turkish Prime Minister聽Tayyip Erdogan聽said聽Ankara聽would never want to start a war and the parliamentary vote was merely a deterrent, but people in the region remained fearful.

"We are stuck in the middle," said 33-year-old security guard聽Ibrahim Cilden聽in Akcakale. "If we're going to go to war, let's go to war, but right now we're sitting here like targets."

His house was a few doors from the one hit on Wednesday in the south of Akcakale by the border fence. The area is like a ghost town, bearing the scars of Syrian shells, mortar bombs and bullets that have strayed across the border in recent weeks.

Syria's ally聽Russia聽said it had received assurances from聽Damascus聽that the mortar strike had been a tragic accident, as forces loyal to President聽Bashar al-Assad聽battle rebels trying to overthrow his government in the area.

By late on Thursday, the Turkish guns had fallen silent, but U.N. spokesman聽Martin Nesirky聽said Secretary-General聽Ban Ki-moon聽was "alarmed by escalating tensions along the Syrian-Turkish border" and worried that the risk of a wider regional conflict was growing.

But the U.S. State Department said it considered聽Turkey's response to the Syrian shelling to be appropriate, proportionate and designed to deter any future violations of its sovereignty by聽Syria.

滨苍听Istanbul, about 5,000 people took to the city centre on Thursday evening in a peaceful anti-war protest, which also turned into a demonstration against Erdogan's ruling聽AK Party.

"The AKP wants war, the people want peace," "No to war, peace right now," the crowds chanted as police looked on.

The U.N.聽Security Council, in a rare agreement on聽Syria, condemned the Syrian attack. That came after two days of negotiations on an initial text rejected by聽Russia. Consensus within the council on anything related to聽Syria聽is unusual and it has been deadlocked over the country's 18-month conflict for more than a year, with聽Russia聽and聽China聽rejecting calls to sanction the聽Damascus government.

Moscow聽circulated its own version calling on both聽Turkey and聽Syria聽to exercise restraint. Western council members objected to聽Moscow's proposal, but revised the original draft.

"The members of the聽Security Council聽underscored that this incident highlighted the grave impact the crisis in聽Syria聽has on the security of its neighbors and on regional peace and stability," the 15-nation council said in the final version of its non-binding statement.

Turkey is sheltering more than 90,000 refugees from聽Syria聽and fears a mass influx similar to the flight of half a million Iraqi Kurds into聽Turkey after the 1991 Gulf War.