Turkey directs double amount of shellfire

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Security measures near the Syrian border is tightened after the deadly shelling. AA

Turkey has directed double the amount of shellfire at Syria in comparison to the Syrian shelling on Oct. 3 that killed five in the southeastern border town of Akçakale in line with the principle of “double retaliation,” which stems from Ankara’s changed rules of engagement.

Syria launched around 10 mortars at Turkey, leading Turkey to respond with nearly 20 artillery shots back, a Turkish official told the Hürriyet Daily News yesterday.

In the hours following the Syrian shelling, Turkey launched artillery strikes on targets in Syria in line with the principle of equal response requirements, which dictate that the military must respond to an attack with the same kind of weapon and firepower used by a belligerent foe. Yesterday morning’s artillery strikes, however, went beyond the equal response requirements due to a change in the rule of engagements.

The second round of strikes early yesterday was to send a “warning” to Syria, the official said.

Turkey changed its military rules of engagement to treat any military approach from Syria as a threat, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced June 26 after Syria shot down a Turkish plane.

Turkish officials have so far kept silent on the content of these changes. Double retaliation is a general rule in armed forces, Hilmi Özkök, former Chief of General Staff, told reports after he he spoke to Parliament’s coup commission to give information regarding coups in Turkey.