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Sunday 7 October 2012

Turkey / Syria: the reasons for the anger

Wednesday, facing the shelling of the army Bashar Assad, Ankara bombing response and Syria.The Turkish parliament authorized the government to intervene even if Damascus apologized.Tensions between the two countries date back yesterday and yet not reappear intensely in these times of crisis. 

Syrian bombing Wednesday, October 3, in the border village of Alçacale Turkey has killed 5 people: 1 woman and 4 children. 5 dead too. Ankara could not pass up. This is not the first time on September 26, shell fire destroyed a house in the same locality. Not to mention the Turkish fighter, an F-4 shot in full flight on June 22. This time the Turks had "hit the mark" to prevent Damascus feels omnipotent.Half an hour after the shelling of Syria, Ankara began bombing targets in Syria.

This escalation of violence between the two countries is dreaded for months by the UN. Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN international mediator for the Syrian crisis, suggests a situation potentially"catastrophic for the region."  However, tensions between Turkey and Syria are rooted in history and relate to very susceptible.

The territory of Hatay, better known as the Sanjak of Alexandretta name, is the first bone of contention between Ankara and Damascus. Until 1939, it is part of the current Syrian territory, then under French mandate. Upon his departure, France gives way to Turkey. Upon independence in 1936, Syria claimed the Sanjak of Alexandretta in vain. Damascus continues to consider that the territory granted to the Turks who rightfully.

The issue of sharing the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is not to be overlooked either. The administration of two rivers in Turkey, where they find their sources, has been at the expense of its neighbors Syrian and Iraqi. Along the Euphrates, Turkey has established five large dams for irrigation or power generation. Result: very little water actually happening in Syria and Iraq, which called for the establishment a status  "international" of these water resources.


Already during the Cold War, it is important to note that the two countries found themselves in opposing camps. , Turkey joined NATO in 1951, while Syria has signed an assistance treaty with the USSR in 1957.
Finally, the Kurdish issue poisoned relations between Turkey and Syria. 's side of the "anti-imperialist" Syria welcomes in 1982 the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) and its leader Abdullah Öcalan. Inspired by Marxism-Leninism, they declare war against the Turkish state in 1984.

Today, despite leave to intervene in Syria granted by the Turkish Parliament to the government, said Ankara does not want war. For its part, Damascus has formally apologized, following the advice of Russia. The international community has condemned the Syrian fire but called for calm.

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