UN unanimously condemns Syrian shelling of Turkish town

The UN Security Council has condemned a Syrian mortar attack on a Turkish border town that killed five civilians, the Guardian News reported.

The statement said the attack underscored the grave impact the Syrian crisis was having on "regional peace and stability".
An earlier draft referring to "international peace and security" was blocked by Syria's ally Russia.

Turkey's parliament has authorised military action inside Syria, a move that triggered anti-war protests.

However, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his country does not intend to start a war with Syria.

Russia had tried but failed to include language apparently aimed at balancing the Syrian attack with Turkey's military response, she said.

The final version said the incident "highlighted the grave impact the crisis in Syria has on the security of its neighbours and on regional peace and stability".

It demanded that "such violations of international law stop immediately and are not repeated".

It called on the Syrian government to "fully respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbours" and urged "restraint".
Syria's UN envoy Bashar Jaafari said his government was not seeking escalation with Turkey.

He criticised the Security Council's silence on "suicide terrorist attacks that struck the city of Aleppo" that killed dozens of Syrians on the same day as the Turkish incident.

A senior diplomat said the Security Council would address that issue on Friday.

On Thursday, Turkey's parliament authorised troops to launch cross-border operations against Syria for a period of one year.
The emergency vote followed the shelling of the Turkish town of Akcakale in which two women and three children were killed.
On Thursday evening thousands of people held an anti-war rally in Istanbul's Taksim Square.

Demonstrators chanted: "No to war! Peace now! We won't be soldiers of imperialists!"

Some banners accused Mr Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) of being a stooge of the US.