On May 11, two car bombs in the town of Reyhanli in the Hatay province on the western end of Turkey’s 911-km [566-mile] border with Syria — extending from the Mediterranean all the way to the Iraqi border — killed 46 people and wounded more than 100, of whom 29 seriously. The devastation went far beyond the scene of the attacks and dented Turkey’s credibility in the region and international arena.
Reyhanli is a border town almost a stone’s throw from Cilvegozu, the most active border crossing between Turkey and Syria. On Feb. 11, a bomb attack on the Turkish side of Cilvegozu killed two Turkish citizens. There were claims then that the bomb might have targeted Syrian opposition leaders who were expected to cross the border at that moment.