Turkish army Turkey's parliament has authorised cross-border military action against Syria, if deemed necessary by the government. The mandate, valid for one year, was passed by 320 votes in the 550-seat Turkish parliament, the Anatolia news agency reported on Thursday. Besir Atalay, Turkey's deputy prime minister, said authorising the use of force in Syria was not a declaration of war but was intended as a deterrent. The vote came as Turkey resumed shelling Syrian government military positions on Thursday morning in retaliation for a mortar attack which landed over its border in southeastern Turkey killing five of its citizens - a woman and four children from the same family. "The Syrian side has admitted what it did and apologised," Atalay said. Turkish state media said that the attacks by artillery units based in the border town of Akcakale were continuing. Several Syrian troops were killed as a result of overnight Turkish shelling at a base near the Syrian border town of Tal al-Abyad, a UK-based Syrian activist group said. An aide to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, said on Thursday that his country had no intention of declaring war on Syria, pointing out that the shelling - now in its second day - should be seen as a "warning" to the authorities in Damascus. The parliament had already been due to vote on Thursday on extending a five-year-old authorisation for foreign military operations, an agreement originally intended to allow strikes on Kurdish bases in northern Iraq. But the memorandum signed by Erdogan and sent to parliament overnight said that despite repeated warnings and diplomatic initiatives, the Syrian military had launched aggressive action against Turkish territory, presenting "additional risks". "This situation has reached a level of creating a serious threat and risks to our national security. At this point the need has emerged to take the necessary measures to act promptly and swiftly against additional risks and threats," it said. In the most serious cross-border escalation of the 18-month uprising in Syria, Turkey hit back after what it called "the last straw" when a mortar hit a residential neighbourhood of the southern border town of Akcakale on Wednesday.
