Turkey battles fires along Syrian border

The Associated Press

AP Photo
In this photo taken Wednesday, June 27, 2012, a Turkish military truck transports a mobile missile launcher to the Syrian border, in Iskenderun, Turkey. Turkey is deploys antiaircraft units along its border with Syria following the downing of one of its warplanes by Syrians.

YAYLADAGI, Turkey (AP) — Turkish firefighters were battling several blazes along the Turkish-Syria border on Wednesday in areas that thousands of Syrians have crossed to flee the fighting in their country.

Mehmet Harbi, a forestry official, claimed the fires were "deliberately started" at four different points on the Syrian side of the border and spread to Turkey due to strong winds. Turkey's state-run TRT television said Syrian forces are believed to have started the fires to deny shelter to rebels along the border area. Harbi and TRT provided no evidence to substantiate their claims.

More than 35,000 Syrians are living in refugee camps on the Turkish side of the border that were opened to care for the many people fleeing Syria's unrest. Sporadic clashes between Syrian forces and activists also have occurred on the Syrian side of the border.

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July 04, 2012

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1. Nicholas Kostopoulos wrote on July 04, 2012 6:15 PM	Turkey must take out Syria, now or its words are only a paper threat. They will crush Syria, and could turn into a World War if Russia sticks their nose in. Time will tell for this next incident in the world of 2012.

2. Philip Vorgias wrote on July 04, 2012 7:09 PM	Turkey is trying to reinstate the old Ottoman Empire, with it's domination of the middle east. I do NOT support this effort of theirs, but there is the possibility they'll overextend themselves in the effort and that works to Greece's advantage. The one thing predicatable about Turks is they overplay their hands-have done so time and again for centuries.

3. Niko Seretis wrote on July 04, 2012 9:06 PM	The Turkish terrorist grey wolves have been setting fires in Greece for decades now. This is a proven fact which came out not too long ago. Let them deal with out of control fires now in their country and see how it feels.

4. Theodore G. Karakostas wrote on July 05, 2012 12:11 AM	The Russians are well justified in intervening since they are working to protect the Christians of Syria. Once again, Western foreign policy is pursuing a policy at the expense of Eastern Christians. Remember what happened to the Christians of Iraq after that war. Remember also the Christians of Kosovo who have have virtually dissappeared since 1999 right under the auspices of the United Nations and NATO "peacekeepers". And lets remember Cyprus where the US tried to shaove the Annan Plan down the throats of the Cypriots in order to feed Cyprus to the Turks.

5. Philip Vorgias wrote on July 05, 2012 7:20 AM	Solid argument, Ted. But the Russians need to be more candid with their strategy. The west elites don't recognize that the eastern Church exists, or it doesn't factor into their equation anyway. Russia needs to place this issue on the table so the west has to deal with an consistent failure of it's policies.
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Tuesday, May 21, 2013 Last Update: 5:41 AM ET