Brussels, 12/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - With the deterioration in security conditions on the border between Turkey and Syria, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday 12 April that he was considering asking for NATO support. Among the various options open to him, he could invoke Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty should the forces of Bashar al-Assad continue not to respect the Turkish border, he said. This article states that an attack on any member of NATO will be considered as an attack on all the parties, which could then use force by virtue of the principle of self-defence.
Since the outset of the Syrian crisis, all talk of the role that the Atlantic Alliance might be called on to play has been taboo. When asked on numerous occasions about this issue, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has always given assurances that “NATO has no intention of intervening in Syria”. While there would seem little prospect of a military operation, similar to that carried out in Libya in 2011, to support rebel strongholds against the Damascus authorities, Rasmussen said on 2 April that “obviously we monitor the situation closely as one of our allies is a neighbour of Syria and can also be impacted by what is going on in Syria”.
According to several sources, the Syrian army has again, on Thursday 12 April, opened fire in the direction of the Turkish border, despite the ceasefire coming into effect, in line with the deadline set under the plan prepared by UN and Arab League Special Envoy Kofi Annan. The firing was an attempt to intimidate the large numbers of Syrians fleeing the fighting that has now lasted for a year and brought the deaths of 10,000 people, according to the latest estimates by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Turkey has taken in 25,000 Syrians so far.
The cessation of hostilities in Syria seems to be holding, Annan said in a press release published by the United Nations in New York. Syria is enjoying a rare moment of calm, Annan said, adding that it was important that this calm now be maintained.
Foreign and defence ministers will convene on Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 April in NATO's highest body, the North Atlantic Council, the meeting of which has been scheduled for several weeks. If similar incidents are reported, Erdogan could call on his ministers, who will be attending the meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, to ask the other members of the Alliance to consider the various options for ensuring the security of the Turkish border.
The Syrian militia report that the ceasefire is apparently being partially observed, even though troops loyal to President al-Assad remain stationed in most towns. The militia speak of a fragile calm, an indication that wariness towards the Assad regime remains the order of the day. As we go to press, the opposition has said that three civilians have been killed and reports many arrests in the hours following the start of the ceasefire, while the Syrian authorities have said that a “terrorist attack” had claimed the life of an officer and injured 28 others. (JK/transl.rt)