Turkey assures Europe on Syria

At a recent two-day conference organized by the Southeast Europa Association (SOG) in Berlin, a high-ranking Turkish diplomat said his country would not take unilateral action on Syria, despite Ankara's increasingly hawkish stance.

"Our red lines on Syria have been crossed already. But our hands are tied," Turkey's ambassador to the EU, Selim Yenel, told diplomats, politicians and experts during the conference. "As long as the UN Security Council is stuck with the Russian and Chinese vetoes, we can't do anything. That's the problem," he said.

The growing tensions on the Turkey-Syria border, coupled with an increasingly assertive Turkish foreign policy, have raised concerns in European capitals that Ankara would take unilateral action on Syria, a development that could escalate the crisis beyond control.

Earlier this month, Syrian forces shelled Turkish territories during clashes with rebels on the border area and Ankara pushed a bill through parliament that authorized it to send in troops, opening the way to unilateral action. Faced with growing security risks from Syria, Turkish armed forces have continued intensifying their deployment along the Syrian border.

Read more: Turkey assures Europe on Syria | World | DW.DE | 22.10.2012