The latest from the Turks from The Telegraph:
09.22 The Turkish cabinet's motion states:
Quote Our soil has been the target of aggressive actions by the Syrian Arab Republic Armed Forces since September 20, and they continued despite our numerous warnings and diplomatic initiatives.
A need has emerged to take necessary measures and to act in haste and in time in the face of additional risks and threats that may be directed against our country.
You'll see from the updates below how many world leaders are trying to diffuse this thing but it seems to be spinning out of control - I'm nearly licking my chops thinking about the possibility of Turkish military forces in a confrontation with Iranian Revolutionary Guards all on Syrian soil. Oh man, can you imagine a stretch of desert with Iranian troops being bombed by Turkish aircraft? It almost breaks me out into a sweat. LOL.
Turkey shells Syria: latest
Live updates as Turkey resumes attacks on Syrian targets a day after shells from across the border killed five Turkish nationals.
Latest
12.19 Middle East Correspondent Richard Spencer says Nato partners are unwilling to get drawn into the escalating conflict as Turkey strikes Syrian targets following a mortar bomb fired from Tel Abyad that killed five Turkish civilians:
11.30 Even Iran is adding to the diplomatic groundswell calling for restraint. Iran's deputy foreign minister for Arab affairs, Hossein Amir Adbolahian, told the Fars news agency:
Quote The Islamic Republic of Iran asks both sides to show restraint, to investigate the issue and take note of the enemy's goals in the region.
Both sides have to take note of armed extremist and terrorist groups in the region.... The security in the region lies in increasing control over the borders around Syria.
11.23 The New York Times reports that defections to the Free Syrain Army have reduced to "a trickle":
Quote Opposition commanders say defections have slowed to a trickle. Some commanders have given up trying to entice defectors, and others have resorted to more desperate measures: cajoling, duping, threatening and even drugging and kidnapping military men to get them to change sides, or at least stay out of the fight. Without defections, they say, the opposition cannot hope to grow, never mind prevail.
11.07 Syria has recognised that its deadly shelling of a Turkish town was a "tragic accident" and has vowed that it will not happen again, its close ally Russia has said.
The Syrian authorities told Russia "what happened at the border with Turkey was a tragic accident, and that it will not happen again. ... We think it is of principal importance that Damascus states this officially," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
11.00 Telegraph correspondent Ruth Sherlock reports:
Syrian activists are taking Turkey's military response as proof of the government's promise to protect the border areas from Syrian aggression. Activists said they believe that Turkey will now respond forcefully to any attack by the Syrian government against the border areas - including for up to five kilometers inside Syria. In a sign of growing confidence in Turkey, the opposition Syrian Support Group and other activists announced today that they are building “the first organized refugee camp” inside Syria for Syrian refugees.
10.49 Turkish police have fired tear gas to stop a small group of anti-war protesters approaching parliament as deputies debated a motion that could authorise military action in Syria if the government deems it necessary.
A Reuters reporter saw 25-30 protesters chanting "We don't want war!" and "The Syrian people are our brothers!" in front of the parliament building in the capital Ankara.
10.43 France has added its weight to the diplomatic condemnation of Syria, stating the border attack was a "serious threat to peace".
10.32 The EU has condemned Syria for the Turkey attack yesterday and urged restraint on all sides. Catherine Ashton, the EU's foreign policy head said in a statement:
Quote I strongly condemn yesterday's shelling by Syrian forces of the Turkish border town.
I once again urge the Syrian authorities to put an immediate end to the violence and fully respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all neighbouring countries.
10.02 More from William Hague, who is speaking in Budapest:
Quote The Turkish response is understandable, an outrageous act has taken place, Turkish citizens have been killed inside Turkey by forces from another country.
So we express our strong solidarity with Turkey but we don't want to see a continuing escalation of this incident.
Hague added that the Syrian government should make sure that "there is no repetition whatever of any incident of this kind so that such tensions on border regions with Turkey or with other neighbouring countries can be avoided".
09.48 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has urged Syria to state publicly that a mortar bomb attack on the Turkish border was accidental and would not be repeated. According to the RIA Novosti news agency, he said:
Quote Through our ambassador to Syria, we have spoken to the Syrian authorities who assured us ... that what happened at the border with Turkey was a tragic accident, and that it will not happen again.
We think it is of fundamental importance for Damascus to state that officially.
09.40 William Hague says Turkish response is understandable as he again condemns the "outrageous incident".
09.34 The Telegraph's Middle East Correspondent, Richard Spencer's latest news wrap on the cross-border clashes:
The shelling, the first direct intervention in the Syrian conflict by an outside power, began on Wednesday night in retaliation for the deaths of five Turkish civilians, a woman and her three daughters and another woman, in Akcakale earlier in the day.
They were struck by a mortar round fired from inside Syria and thought to be aimed from the military base at the Tal al-Abyad border post, which fell into Syrian rebel hands last month.
As well as ordering the military response, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, prepared a concerted diplomatic offensive against Syria, calling an emergency meeting of the Nato council and demanding action at the United Nations security council.
09.22 The Turkish cabinet's motion states:
Quote Our soil has been the target of aggressive actions by the Syrian Arab Republic Armed Forces since September 20, and they continued despite our numerous warnings and diplomatic initiatives.
A need has emerged to take necessary measures and to act in haste and in time in the face of additional risks and threats that may be directed against our country.
09.17 BBC Arabic journalist Mohamed Yehia tweets:
09.04 Away from the border, the Syrian army shelled several areas of Aleppo this morning, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"The army shelled the Bab al-Nayrab, Salaheddin, Mashhad, Bab al-Nasr and Sakhur districts," the watchdog said.
The districts are located in various parts of the city, with Salaheddin in the southwest and Sakhur in the northeast.
The army also fought battles with rebels in several neighbourhoods of the northern city, including Saif al-Dawla and Sakhur, the Observatory said.
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