Syria has not apologized to Turkey: report

ISTANBUL

Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar Al-Jaafari listens to a speech during the United Nations General Assembly on September 25, 2012 in New York City. AFP Photo

Syria did not sent a letter of apology to Turkey after its shelling killed five people in Turkish territories, Syria's ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar Jaafari, told Lebanon daily El Nashra , broadcaster al-Manar reported on its website today.

"The Syrian government is working on investigating the accident and not on apologizing," Ambassador Jaafari reportedly said, although Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay stated yesterday that Syria had admitted its shelling and apologized.

"We have waited one year and eight months for the Turkish government to present an apology for its acts in Syria. It is a tragic development that a Turkish woman was killed with her three children, and we sympathize with that because she was an innocent Turkish citizen," Jaafari said.

He also stressed that those who fired the shells remain unknown, but that "in the region there are many groups that are interested in creating conflict between Syria and Turkey."

"We have not heard from the Turkish side any sympathy or solidarity with the innocent Syrian citizens who were killed in the terror explosions of Aleppo. Therefore, we must be fair in our approach," Jaafari also said.