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Menduh Thaci, "persona non grata in Greece"?

Thaçi is not allowed to enter Greece, wrote to the Greek PM Samaras
Tetovo, October 9 - The chairman of the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA), Menduh Thaci, has written a public letter to the Greek Prime Minister Andonis Samaras, on not allowing him to enter the territory of Greece .
Thaci was returning from Ankara, where he participated in the Congress of the KPA of the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but the former returned to the border crossing with Greece by the Greek Police officers on the ground that his driver does not have an international driver's license.
"You remind Mr. Prime Minister that I am president of the Albanian Democratic Party, the largest opposition party of Albanians in Macedonia and at the same time a member of parliament. Perhaps I may have sympathy for the frustrations and difficulties that runs your state government in the crisis that has befallen you, but such incidents do not contribute to the image of your country, "he wrote Thaçi Greek prime minister.
Albanian opposition leader brought to the attention of the Greek Prime Minister and the case of freezing Albanian journalist Television Top-Channel, considering this approach Athenian official policy as contrary to the fundamental principles of humanity and democracy.

Samaras Bans Rallies During Merkel’s Visit

Worried that planned protests during German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Athens on Oct. 9 could escalate into violence, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras had directed that all rallies and gatherings be banned while she’s in the city to meet him, and the government will put snipers on rooftops and have Army commandos on standby in helicopters.
The security will even higher than for then-U.S. President Bill Clinton’s visit in 1999 and the ban on gatherings hasn’t happened since the days of the military junta that was overthrown in 1974. Samaras earlier had vowed to stop violence at protests after unpaid ship workers earlier this month stormed the Defense Ministry and clashed with police.
Government officials said most of the area in downtown Athens would be sealed off although it was reported that there would be some access for protesters and it was unclear how the government would react if demonstrators try to break the barricades that will be in place for 13 hours to protect Merkel and keep her from seeing any protests.
Demonstrators marched through Athens the day before Merkel’s visit and labor unions called for a work stoppage and mass protests while was to be meeting with Samaras and other government officials as the Prime Minister tries to get a $17.45 billion spending cut and tax hike plan approved by international lenders to release more loans needed to keep the economy afloat.
Merkel’s visit was seen as a show of support for Samaras after he came to Berlin last month to meet her and also a sign that she is in favor Greece staying in the Eurozone of countries using the euro, although she has not relented on her demands for more pay cuts, tax hikes and slashed pensions that have made her an enemy to many Greeks and stoked up anti-German feelings unseen since the end of WWII and the Nazi occupation.
To fend off potential attacks, at least 7,000 plainclothes police and hundreds more undercover agents have been mobilized from across the country to lock down the capital and erect steel fences around Parliament, the favorite gathering place of protests, CNBC reported. Snipers were already visibly stationed on the roof tops of government buildings in Athens and helicopters were already patrolling the skies.
Samaras has his hands full. The New Democracy leader is trying to convince the partners in his coalition government to go along with more austerity measures and the Democratic Left, which opposed them before the June 17 elections, has relented and PASOK Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos has put only feeble protests against some of the toughest conditions.
That has left it to the major opposition party, the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) to fight against more pay cuts, tax hikes and slashed pensions and the party’s leader, Alexis Tsipras, joined labor union leaders in urging Greeks to defy the ban on gathering and confront police downtown to show Merkel the face of resistance. The Independent Greeks said they will try to form a human shield around the German Embassy but it was not clear if they would even be allowed near it.
“The stakes are enormous,” George Pagoulatos, professor of European Politics and Economy at Athens University, told CNBC. “That Merkel, however, has agreed to come to Athens and afford political backing to Samaras demonstrates in most demonstrable way possible, her decision to tackle Europe’s debt troubles with Greece within the euro equation.”
(Sources: AMNA, dv, Athens News, Kathimerini)

 

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Constitutional laws for properties, are applied only for the government decisions

Albanian Constitution unworthy of ownership

6 Months after the 7501 law, was approved by the Albanian Parliament, continues to be processed, by the Albanian Government Decisions (VKM).

Who has taken more than 10% of the surface, will pay

Who has been more than 10% will be confiscated and will be posted to the Albanian expropriated owners

The Albanian Mafia to the way of baying falls properties more as possible 

The process will be posted for 10 days, who will be able to come to measure the whole earth, if not agree, it has the right, within three days, to oppose government commission land.

The Himara Community and the Costal Association: Civil have called as disobedience for 7501 communist law.

more in albanian:
http://shekulli.com.al/web/p.php?id=5549&kat=100

Albania, vote for Azerbaijan

While the politically persecuted people are continuing their hunger strike in Tirana, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe passed with 100 votes in favour, 64 against and 12 abstains for the “politically prisoner” definition resolution.

Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Spain were lobbying against this resolution. The Albanian delegation, represented by MPs Kastriot Islami, Lajla Pernaska and Shpetim Idrizi voted against the resolution in general and in favour of Azerbaijan, who reject the basic position of the Assembly on this matter.

“The report for the definition of the political prisoners was very simple. It had only three paragraphs for the definition, explaining that those who are considered terrorists are excluded from this status, and appeals all member countries to follow this definition”, declared Mailir Reps, member of the Commission of Laws and human rights, PACE.

“The ‘magic’ amend, amend nr.2, undermined the entire institution of the Council of Europe, since it said that the member countries can establish the “political prisoner” definition on their own, and that for special occasions thy might refer to the European Court for Human Rights, about who can be considered “politically persecuted”. The amend also says that the Parliamentary Assembly must not define the basis of the human rights and freedom, while this is what we are doing here for every debate and resolution. It damaged the entire institution. Naturally, this is something for which Albania must feel ashamed, because they have the Presidency”, Reps declared.

The Albanian MP Shpetim Idrizi, explained for Top Channel outside the cameras that Azerbaijan had lobbied strongly, and this justified the vote of the Albanian delegation against the resolution and in favour of a problematic amend, simply by offering solidarity to the requests of Azerbaijan.

PM "ready to take responsibility in negotiations"

Source: Beta

BELGRADE -- Ivica Dačić says he is "not shying away from his responsibility" when it comes to continued Kosovo dialogue, but that it was important to determine its goal.

Ivica Dačić (Beta, file)

Another important point, Dačić said, was to see whether there were "any new conditions".
He spoke a day after President Tomislav Nikolić told B92 that he would suggest the prime minister to head Belgrade's team in Kosovo negotiations.

"A decision on the continuation of the dialogue has not yet been defined," Dačić said, and added that it was also unknown who would take part in it, noting at the same time that it was "important to reach agreement on what we wish to achieve with this dialogue":

"Even in the election campaign I said that I would take the responsibility, well we won't be sending state clerks to talk to Catherine Ashton, will we. However, we must know what kind of talks we are conducting, with what goal and whether everybody (in the government) is in agreement on this."

The prime minister said that Serbia was in favor of peaceful resolution of problems, and that many of its politicians "took part in the dialogue with Priština since 1999".

"However - if we are talking about the dialogue here, while at the Dobrosin checkpoint shots are being fired at the police, those attacks are coming from the territory of Kosovo and Metohija where our investigative organs cannot cross, and nobody ever determined who committed them," he was quoted as saying.

Dačić, who also serves as interior minister, specified that the MUP outpost in Dobrosin came under fire early on Monday, and that there were no casualties in the attack that damaged two passenger cars.

Dobrosin is located in the municipality of Bujanovac, on the administrative line between Kosovo and Metohija and central Serbia.

Albania ex-political prisoner sets himself on fire

The Associated Press

Updated: 2012-10-08T14:14:16Z

A1 private TV station

In this video image taken from A1 private TV station, Gjergj Ndreca, 53, a former Albanian political prisoner sets fire to himself to demand quicker payment of compensation for victims of the former communist regime, in Tirana, Albania Monday, Oct. 8, 2012. Gjergj Ndreca is among a group of some 20 former political prisoners on hunger strike on a street in central Tirana. They are demanding that the government meets its pledges to pay victims of the former regime 2,000 leks ($18.32; Euros14.05) per day of imprisonment.

TIRANA, Albania -- A former Albanian political prisoner has been hospitalized after setting himself on fire to demand quicker payment of compensation for victims of the former communist regime.
Gjergj Ndreca, 53, is among a group of some 20 former political prisoners on hunger strike on a street in central Tirana. They are demanding that the government meets its pledges to pay victims of the former regime 2,000 leks ($18.32; (EURO)14.05) per day of imprisonment.
Police said Ndreca's injuries were not life-threatening. He had been jailed for six years for anti-Communist activities.
Protest coordinator Skender Tufa said a second striker who tried to put out the fire Monday also suffered burns.
About 100,000 Albanians were executed, imprisoned or sent to labor camps by the former communist regime that ruled Albania from 1944-1990.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/10/08/3857180/albania-ex-political-prisoner.html#storylink=cpy

Five himariotes send Albania to the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg

Beleri: "We do not ask "pardon" from the Albanian President"

"We have not asked "Pardon" by the President of Albania Nishani in our Trial, as long as they violate human rights and freedoms scandalous decisions you undertake, even if in the absence of our presence during proceedings as political tribunal. We expect judgment  to the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg to give us the right that belongs to us. "stressed Beleri

This is a joint statement in which Fred Beleri, one of 5 himariotes condamned by the Albanian Courts, sending to the Executive Director of the Himara Community , Stavri Marko

Meanwhile, The Himara Community, constantly demanded trial of 5 people of Himaras citizens to be a trasparent process, from the viewpoint of fundamental human rights and freedoms. The Himara Community has described as scandalous decision of the three levels of Albanian courts, synchronize its statements in Strasbourg, to the European Parliament and the U.S. Department in Washington. Also during Moisiu also Topi presidents mandates the Himariot community has made presidents appeal to review the decision to them.

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Thursday, February 12, 2009

Five himariotes send Albania to the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg

source: Elefterotipia, http://smarkos.blogspot.com/

Statement made by Freddy Beleri, President of the Himara Union

The decisions of Albanian tribunals which have condemned five himariotes during the local elections in Albania 2003. This is another approach to the Albanian authorities in the plan prepared long time ago for the recent expulsion of the Greeks that living historically in Northern Epirus.

The Greek government generously helping Albania to integrate in Euro-Atlantic structures, while the position of Albania continues systematically to violate the human rights of the Greeks of Himara Region.

We, the five defendants would appeal to European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg for justice here, because we believe that the charges are unfounded and unacceptable for a modern European state such is Albania which wants for it aspiration in Europe.

 

The Himara Comunity

 

 

Ilir Meta values Panariti's visit

After returning from Greece, the Foreign Minister, Edmond Panariti has received positive evaluations from the Socialist Movement for Integration leader, Ilir Meta.

Meta considered Panariti’s visit in Athens very important and fruitful, not only for the two countries but also for the region.

“I value the Foreign Minister’s visit Edmond Panariti in Greece as a very important one. With the matters that were discussed and the results, it will contribute for a news level of relations between the two countries, which are also important for the peace and integration in our region”, Meta declared.

 

 The Himara Community, calls the Albanian President Bujar Nishani, in which, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of independence of Albania, to "to release", 5 citizens from Himara with Greek Ethnicity, who have been convicted by the Albanian courts, for "insulting of Albanian symbols ", during the administrative elections of 2003 in Himara Municipality.

PM reiterates: Kosovo partition is only solution

Source: Beta

LJUBLJANA -- Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dačić has once again repeated that the partition of Kosovo is the only true solution.

Ivica Dačić (Tanjug, file)

He told Ljubljana-based daily Delo that this was his personal position and that he could not insist on it.
“I cannot impose my positions as those that would be accepted by the whole of Serbia or the international community,” he was quoted as saying.

“I still think it would be the fastest, best and most just solution, acceptable both to Albanians and Serbs because it respects their legitimate interests,” the prime minister explained.

“The government of course advocates a peaceful solution and the continuation of the Belgrade-Priština dialogue,” Dačić added.

“The dialogue would in our opinion have to include political and not only technical issues,” he told the daily.

He said that Kosovo’s independence “cannot be full unless there is consent and agreement with Serbia”.

The PM stated that Belgrade wanted to continue the dialogue with Priština on the highest political level, that the government and the president would form a national policy for Kosovo and that the EU needed to define the topics of the talks.

He pointed out that the EU did not expect Serbia to recognize Kosovo.

“Nobody has spoken to me in Brussels about such a request,” he said and added that it was “necessary to find a solution that would protect Serbian national and state interests and EU perspective”.

According to him, it is harmful to ask Serbia to recognize the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo if it wants to joint the EU because of the “growing anti-EU sentiment among the Serbian citizens”.

Italian Students Protest At Greek Consulate in Bologna

By Danai Kanella 

 

The Greek consulate in Bologna, Italy, was in the center of the protest on Oct. 5 against government cuts in education.
According to the Italian newspaper, Corriere de la Serra, demonstrators threw eggs and paint against the consulate and one of them even climbed on the post and pulled down the Greek flag.
The strangest thing is that according to their slogan, at least, students were protesting to show their ‘’solidarity’’ to Greeks and to ‘’all the people who fight fascism,” and it was unclear why Italian students picked the Greek consulate as a protest site, although Greece is also making big cuts to education during its economic crisis. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Greek embassy in Rome asked the Italian police to investigate the event and to find both the flag and the people responsible for taking it.

Albanian diplomatic escalation to Greece

Panariti: We do not know the borders with Greece Agreement

 We seek new negotiations to deal with Greece on maritime border

In his first appearance on media after returning from Athens, Foreign Minister Edmond Panariti stated that he had received assurances from the Greek counterpart Dimitris Avramopoulos maritime agreement will be resolved in the spirit of the Constitution and according to what I define international conventions. This Minister has linked optimism and the fact that the Greek State has not advanced marine old agreement, paving thus need to open negotiations on a new reformulation of it.

"For us there is no agreement on the sea, we must work together to launch negotiations for a new agreement. Albania's position, this problem should be addressed only in the spirit of the Constitution of the country and international laws. Should be a solid deal, "said Panariti.

While avoiding comments about the flag incident, Panariti said during a visit to Athens with Greek counterpart discussed all the problems that Greek-Albanian file bears over the years, as is the question of Cham and their restitution.

Meanwhile, there have been discussions and current affairs issues, which the Minister recounted some positive developments with regard to the recognition of certificates, signed the agreement for ease of transportation.

During this visit Panariti expressed concern Avramopoulos dheper declaring "non grata" by the Greek state journalist Marin Mema, as well as frequent stops judges in border issue which has received assurances from the Greek diplomat that will be carefully reviewed.

Law of war, Panariti considered absurd in the present, to which he said that Greece is aware of and will be willing to abrogate.

Greece, decision for minority expected soon
Top Channel.tv

The Greek government is expected to take an important decision that facilitates the procedures of the Greek minority in Albania for receiving the Greek nationality.

After a meeting of the Interior Minister, Nikos Dhendias, with the Deputy Interior Minister, Haralambos Athanasiou, was concluded that the 10-year-term permits that most of the Greek minority members have might turn into a permanent permit.

This development, according to the two ministries, is realized in order to face the bureaucratic obstacles that are related with the residence of Albanian Greek minority members in Greece, and to facilitate the procedures for receiving the Greek nationality after the application, if they want.

The legal decision that will enter in effect immediately is expected to pass soon by both Ministries.

According to the vice chairman of the Omonia organization for Greece, Jorgos Tzoumakas, there are at least 200.000 people who hold the 10-year residence permit in Greece. 75.000 of them have received Greek nationality while others have their applications still undergoing.

Angela Merkel will visit in Athens

The Greek-American Candidates for 2012 Congress Election

In the United States it is estimated there are as many as 3,000,000 people of Greek descent and the community has always avidly supported political candidates, including Philhellenes. This year, nine are running for Congress and are asking for your vote in the upcoming election which will take place on Nov. 6. Eight candidates are competing for the House of Representatives and one for the U.S. Senate.
Every two years, all 435 members of the House of Representatives must run for election or re-election, while 33 of the 100 U.S. Senate seats are being contested. While most of the attention is on the Presidential battle, the Greek-American community is also focused on the Congressional races, where members can make an impact on foreign policy issues. Philhellene candidates who have supported issues critical to Greece and Cyprus are also important to the community.
There had only been one person of Greek descent in the Senate, Olympia Snowe, a Republican from Maine, who is not seeking re-election, pinning the Diaspora’s hopes on Shelley Berkley, a Democratic Nevada Congresswoman, who is running for a Senate seat.
Three Greek-Americans are up for re-election to the Congress and there are three others whose ambition is to win for the first time. Incumbents Gus Bilirakis, a Florida Republican, and the Co-Chairman of the Parliamentary group for Greek Issues, John Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat and son of former U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes, and Niki Tsongas, widow of former U.S. Presidential candidate and former Senator Paul Tsongas, hope to stay in office. Tsongas is not of Greek origin but is in the Greek issue group as well.

The Read and Black alliance, blocking the arrival of Edmont Panariti in Tirana airport 

Panariti, Declared person 'non grata

'In the early morning hours of Friday, Red and Black Alliance activists blocked the exit of foreign minister, Edmond Panariti, from the airport "Mother Teresa" after his arrival from official visits to Athens. By calling and whistling against the humiliation of national symbols and not timid response Panariti Minister, Red and Black Alliance activists blocked the emergence of the sector minister "VIP" Airport "Mother Teresa" and opened the banner "Edmond Panariti - person 'non grata '"in Albania.Connected side by side with each other Red and Black Alliance activists tried to not let him down in the Albanian territory minister Panariti, in protest against the Albanian government negotiations with the Greek government for the deal of water, but also for the scandal with the Albanian flag in conference joint press conference with his counterpart, Avramopoulos. 

Red and Black Alliance Organizing Secretary, Redi Ramaj, during the joint press statement issued harsh messages against maritime agreement renegotiation between Albania and Greece, and demanded to be made public by any means the minutes of secret talks Panariti Avramopoulos."Minister Panariti subdued Albanian national flag and historical symbols. The emergence of diplomacy in violation of our national symbols with their counterparts in Athens, Skopje and Podgorica is not a technical or human error, but a diplomatic message kneeling and capitulation anti government last 100 years, "said Redi Ramaj. 

"We demand that the Albanian government to stop any kind of negotiations and communication with the government Greek Ionian sharing. Red and Black Alliance warns citizen Berisha and Cyprinus that the signing of this agreement is a criminal offense and the filing of the Albanian territory in favor of the Greek state is punishable by life imprisonment, "said Ramaj."Red and Black Alliance and all the Albanians with integrity have a clear message to the Minister of Foreign Affairs knees Albania Edmond Panariti, he is an unwanted person on Albanian soil," said Redi Ramaj.Red and Black Alliance Constitutional Court's decision on water agreement with Greece is the hallmark of the law on an affair anti-national and anti-Albanian initiated by citizen Sali Berisha.After protesters blocked the road, the minister moved from the old road Rinas.

Demonstration at front of the The Greek Defense Ministry, by militaries, get out in way, by Troika reform

Right-Wing Extremists’ Popularity Rising Rapidly in Greece

Yorgos Karahalis/Reuters

People received cartons of milk and other groceries from the Golden Dawn party in Syntagma Square in Athens in August.Members of the party have also attacked immigrants. More Photos »

By LIZ ALDERMAN

ATHENS — The video, which went viral in Greece last month, shows about 40 burly men, led by Giorgos Germenis, a lawmaker with the right-wing Golden Dawn party, marching through a night market in the town of Rafina demanding that dark-skinned merchants show permits.

Multimedia

Some do, and they are left alone. But the action quickly picks up, as the men, wearing black T-shirts with the party’s name, destroy a stall with clubs and scatter the merchandise. “We saw a few illegal immigrants selling their wares,” Mr. Germenis says in the video. “We did what Golden Dawn has to do. And now we’re going to church to pay our respects to the Madonna.”

Just a few months ago, the name Golden Dawn was something to be whispered in Greece.

But three months after the extremist right-wing group won an electoral foothold in Parliament, talk of Golden Dawn seems to be on everybody’s lips.

In cafes, taxis and bars, Greeks across the political spectrum are discussing the palpable surge in Golden Dawn’s popularity, which has risen in recent political polls even as the group steps up a campaign of vigilantism and attacks against immigrants.

The poll gains come amid growing disenchantment over rising illegal immigration, and with the government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, which is being forced by its international lenders to push through $15 billion in additional, highly unpopular, austerity measures. If Greece were to hold new elections soon, Golden Dawn could emerge as the third-largest party in Parliament, behind Mr. Samaras’s New Democracy and the left-wing Syriza. Currently, Golden Dawn is the fifth largest, with 18 out of 300 seats.

“We have a major socioeconomic crisis in which several hundred thousand Greeks are losing ground,” said Nikos Demertzis, a professor of political sociology at the University of Athens. “And you have a rising number of immigrants in Greece, many illegal. This is creating a volcanic situation where all the classic parameters for the flourishing of a far-right force like Golden Dawn are present.”

Golden Dawn’s tactics are similar to ones it used before parliamentary elections in June. Preying on fears that immigrants are worsening crime rates and economic hardship, the group has been stepping up attacks against immigrants, many of whom are legal citizens, with the police frequently standing by. It is also trying to expand its reach with the Greek diaspora.

The group recently opened an office in New York, announcing its presence with a sleek Web site depicting a stylized Swastika against a darkened Manhattan skyline. The Web site was disabled by hackers less than a day later and remains down, and the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association condemned the group’s outreach, saying that “fascism has no place in the United States.”

Golden Dawn has also established an outpost in Australia, where Greeks have been emigrating by the thousands to escape the crisis in their homeland.

The group is still far from being a major threat to Mr. Samaras’s party, or to his fragile three-party coalition government. Most Greeks express alarm at the group’s rise, and anti-fascist organizations in Athens are continuing efforts neighborhood by neighborhood to counter its increased vigilantism.

Yet, rising political and social discontent is rich fodder for Golden Dawn as it tries to cultivate a larger base. These days, it is not uncommon for conversations to evolve into laments about the ineffectiveness of Mr. Samaras’s government, before a mention of Golden Dawn’s rise in the polls slips in.

“People have no faith in the political system,” said Dimitris Kaklamanos, 41, a worker at a Shell gas station in the town of Piraeus, on the outskirts of Athens.

Mr. Kaklamanos said he had long voted for Pasok, the Socialist party, but grew disillusioned with corruption and the ineptitude of its politicians. Now, he feels attracted to Golden Dawn, he said, whose popularity he expects to continue to rise, especially as the group replaces police and government services in poor areas where the state has almost ceased to function.

Other political parties “know that Golden Dawn is gaining power and they see that as a threat,” Mr. Kaklamanos said. “But Golden Dawn are the only ones out there demonstrating they care about the Greek people.”

He cited food and clothing drives conducted by the group across a widening area of Athens, as well as protections it extends to vulnerable Greeks in neighborhoods where crime has surged in tandem with illegal immigration.

Turkish MPs back military action in Syria

By Daniel Dombey in Istanbul and Peter Spiegel in Brussels

©Reuters

Turkey’s parliament has authorised military cross-border operations following a deadly mortar attack from Syria on a Turkish town.
After a morning in which Turkey continued shelling Syrian targets in response to the strike, which killed five people, the parliament backed the government’s call for the authorisation of incursions into the neighbouring state.

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“Turkey’s national security will be protected by this motion,” Omer Celik, a deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development party, said of the motion to authorise armed incursions into Syria before the agreement was reached. “Sometimes there are situations where rules of engagement are not enough.”
Although officials in Ankara emphasise that they are not interested in a bilateral military confrontation with Syria – a course opposed by most of the Turkish public – they say it is important to send Damascus a strong message to avoid repetition of this week’s shelling.
But, amid continued fierce fighting between Syrian regime forces and rebels for control of areas bordering Turkey, it remains unclear whether Damascus will rein in mortar attacks that risk crossing the border.
Turkish officials maintain that the latest incidents show how dangerous the crisis in Syria has become – an issue Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, is likely to address in a news conference on Thursday. Despite his aversion to unilateral military intervention, Mr Erdogan has been campaigning for a UN-backed buffer zone in Syria – so far, without success.
There has been widespread condemnation of the mortar attack, with Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, saying she was “outraged”, describing the increasing violence across Syria’s borders as a “very, very dangerous situation”.
Russia, which is the Syrian regime’s chief international ally, on Thursday urged Damascus to state officially that the cross-border firing was an accident and would not happen again, reports quoted foreign minister Sergei Lavrov as saying.
Reports from the Turkish border town of Akcakale said a woman and three children were among the dead and that at least nine people were wounded. Several Syrian soldiers were killed in Turkey’s overnight retaliation, Reuters reported, citing the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, a pro-Syrian opposition monitoring group.
“In accordance with international law and the rules of engagement, Turkey will never permit this kind of provocation against our national security by the Syrian regime,” said Mr Erdogan’s office, lambasting on Wednesday what it described as an “abominable attack”. Syrian media said sites in the Idlib area had been hit.
Nato ambassadors held a 50-minute night session at Turkey’s request to discuss the alliance’s response under article four of its charter, which allows for consultations on perceived threats, as opposed to article five, a formal declaration that an attack on one member constitutes an attack on all. Nato said it strongly condemned the Syrian strike and described the continual shelling of border areas in Turkey as “flagrant violations of international law”.

“Everybody spoke, everybody expressed condolences, everyone expressed support for Turkey’s measured response,” said a senior Nato diplomat, noting that 26 of the alliance’s 28 ambassadors were able to attend at short notice.
As Turkey called for “necessary action” from the UN Security Council, Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkish foreign minister, discussed the crisis with Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary-general, as well as other officials across the world.