Car Bomb at Syrian Border Kills 13
Tulin Daloglu reports on the latest car bombing on the Syria-Turkey border, which killed 13 people, just 10 days after the US Embassy in Ankara was attacked by a suicide bomber.
Ten days after the U.S. Embassy in Ankara was attacked by a suicide bomber, allegedly in protest against Turkey’s Syria policies, a car bomb exploded today [Feb. 11] on the Syrian side of the Turkish border, at the Cilvegozu crossing point, about 3 p.m. local time.
According to Turkish officials, 13 people are dead, 10 Syrians and three Turkish citizens. More than 30 people are reported injured, and 15 cars were burned.
“There was an explosion at the American Embassy last week, which is one of the best protected places in Turkey,” Adnan Korkmaz of the Eastern Mediterranean regional customs directorate said on CNN Turk. “It’s not even clear how this bomb came so close to the border. We will have more details in the coming days as to how this incident occurred, and only then we can talk about as to whether there was any security vacuum at the border.”
He said that the car that exploded was parked to the side and bore a registered Syrian license plate. “Let’s make one thing very clear," he said. "This car was not coming from Turkey or had gone through its customs control to get into Turkey.”
