After Turkey returned fire, it called for a meeting of NATO in Brussels. Turkey is a member of NATO, in fact the only Muslim nation to be a part of NATO. This was followed by a meeting in the county’s Parliament to decide on future course of action. And what was it that was decided? The country’s lawmakers voted in favour of allowing cross border military operations in Syria. Well, nothing new other than its Syria this time instead of Iraq. Turkey regularly carries out military operations in Iraqi Kurdish Semi-Autonomous region. In fact, the Turkish Armed forces are currently active in the area.

Syria and Turkey were good friends once, and this once does not mean a long time. Differences started just after the uprising began in Syria. Turkey was Syria’s major trading partner with Syrians crossing over into Turkey in evening to enjoy and they used to return by night.

The justification Turkey has given to allow cross border raids into Syria is because it violated international laws by firing a mortar in Turkish territory. Now, do you see the irony? Turkey has even moved its tanks and artillery pieces closer to the border with Syria. Syria in order to not anger the big bully any more moved inland its own tanks.

Imagine, a country having to fear in its own border. Compare it with a situation that most of us were familiar with in school. Even after having money in our pockets we could not go and eat at the school canteen because of the fear of losing the money. We opted to stay hungry instead.

There have been growing calls in the international community to launch a campaign to protect civilian lives in Syria with some of the major supporters being the NATO members. The only reason their bid has been unsuccessful so far in the UNSC is because of the presence of countries like Russia and China. They have vetoed every time such a resolution reached the UNSC, not just because they are allies of Syria but because they fear if they watch silently, another scenario similar to Libya might occur.

The Civil War in Syria is a completely different topic all together but just compare it with the recent cases and rulings in Turkey where almost 300 armed forces officers were convicted of planning a coup d’état and sentence. This ruling was celebrated and mentioned during the AK party conference in Ankara on 30th September, 2012 attended by a handful of foreign dignitaries as well. In his speech, the Turkish Prime Minister said that Turkey is a model for other Muslim countries to emulate.

Well, Syria is not facing the problems of a coup d’état but instead has its citizens and foreigners holding guns in their hands trying to undermine the government’s authority by seizing control of numerous towns, cities and important areas

A lot of reports available on the internet explicitly say that Turkey is providing arms and ammunitions for the opposition forces inside Syria as well as training some of the opposition fighters inside Turkey.
And just to point it out for you all, the town that was hit is very close to the Syrian border and the opposition forces had taken control of the border crossing which the Syrian forces were trying to reclaim because they feared that the rebels could be supplied with arms and ammunitions by sympathisers inside Turkey which would further fuel the conflict. Israel, Syria, Greece and Iraq have been bullied or are being bullied. If Turkey is still not a bully in your eyes, just give some more time and you will see the clear picture.