No: 101, 09 April 2012, Press Release Regarding the Opening of Fire to the Refuge Camps from the Syrian Side of the Border

Two Syrian nationals who took shelter in the Kilis Container Town and two Turkish citizens working there have been injured as a result of gun fires from Syria in the morning hours of 9 April.

Syrian citizens who took refuge in our country from the brutality of the current regime in Syria are under Turkey’s full protection. We will certainly take necessary measures if such incidents reoccur.

These have been communicated through definitive and strong expressions by Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioğlu, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to the Syrian Chargé d’Affaires in Ankara who was summoned today to the Ministry.

It is being observed that the regime forces have recently shifted their attacks on people to areas close to our common border. Twenty one wounded Syrian citizens who have been fleeing these attacks entered our country on the same day while two of them lost their lives shortly after their arrival.
It is a reality that the Syrian regime attempts to exploit certain initiatives proposed in good faith by the international community in order to intensify its violence against its own people.

We strongly condemn this abominable incident which occurred at a time when the armed forces were supposed to withdraw in accordance with the mission of H.E. Mr.Kofi Annan.

The Syrian regime must at once stop the violence against the civilian population and the international community must act immediately to ensure this.