BURSA
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said that the Akcakale incident in which 5 Turkish citizens were killed and 9 others wounded when Syrian artillery shells landed in the town earlier in the day was "the final straw".
Speaking during an inauguration ceremony of a hotel in the north-western province of Bursa, Arinc said that "Turkey was a sovereign country."
"Turkey has been attacked (by Syria) and our citizens have died. There will certainly be a reciprocity to such an attack under international laws," Arinc stressed.
"The NATO treaty places certain burdens on member states when one of them comes under attack in one way or another. We will defend our rights till the end when our citizens have been killed and our territory came under attack," Arinc stated.
"I want the world to know that what must be done will be done. I just held a conversation with our Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the matter. The Turkish government follows the developments as a whole team," Arinc underlined.
"I do hope that this will be the last madness of the Syrian regime. The Syrian administration will pay the price of its act today. We are a government strong enough to protect our citizens and territory," Arinc also said.
Bulent Arinc added that he would return to Ankara with a flight at 20.15 hours.
