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21 November 2011, Monday / TODAYSZAMAN.COM
Tens of thousands of Muslim pilgrims pray inside the Grand Mosque, in Mecca on Nov. 4, 2011. (Photo: AP)
Three buses carrying Turkish pilgrims to Turkey from Saudi Arabia, where they were going to perform the Islamic pilgrimage, were attacked at a check point in Syria, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
The Foreign Ministry said according to initial reports that the attack occurred near the central city of Homs, where Syrian activists reported at least nine people killed by security forces on Sunday. The statement said two Turkish citizens were injured in the attack.
Turkish NTV news channel said the driver of one of the three buses and a pilgrim were wounded in the attack at a checkpoint just across the Syrian border. Private news agency Doğan showed images of a passenger bus with one of its side windows broken at the Cizre border crossing inside Turkey.
Passengers on the bus said they had been told to disembark at a checkpoint by up to eight uniformed Syrian soldiers. One passenger said the soldiers started firing randomly at the pilgrims as they ran away. A Turkish foreign ministry official told Reuters that he was aware of an incident and the ministry was trying to establish the details.
Driver of one of the buses, Erhan Sürmeli, said the bus was carrying 25 butchers back to Turkey from Saudi Arabia following the Muslim festival of Eid Al-Adha, or the feast of sacrifice.
"We had stopped at a checkpoint," Sürmeli told The Associated Press by telephone. "Syrian soldiers emerged from behind sandbags and cursed [Turkish Prime Minister] Recep Tayyip Erdoğan when we told them we were Turks. Then they suddenly opened fire at the bus."
Sürmeli said he heard that two other Turkish buses had come under attacks and another passenger was injured. They were able to cross into Turkey, he said.
Passengers disembarking at Cizre told Doğan they had been told to get off the bus by up to eight uniformed Syrian soldiers at a checkpoint.
"They were hidden in their hideouts ... these were soldiers, these were not civilians, their flags were there," a male passenger in his thirties said.
One of the soldiers said "'come, come', he wanted to get me inside, I didn't go inside," the passenger said.
"I had nothing in my hands, there were seven or eight of them. He cocked his gun at me and said 'put your hands up' ... I shouted for everyone to run, we ran and they started firing at our backs. God saved us," he said.
"We have returned from death. We have returned from death," said another male middle-aged passenger, sobbing as he spoke.
It was not immediately clear when the incident happened, but it appeared to have taken place overnight.
The wounded were being treated in a hospital in Antakya, in Turkey's Hatay province just across the Turkish border, NTV reported.
The attack is likely to further deteriorate Turkey's relations with the Syrian administration. Turkey, once a close ally of the Syrian president, has gradually toughened its criticism of the Syrian regime for its brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests. Last month, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan slammed Assad, suggesting that Syria would be the next country for the Arab Spring and that Assad would eventually be ousted by his own people.
Turkish pilgrims come under attack in Syria, two wounded
Tens of thousands of Muslim pilgrims pray inside the Grand Mosque, in Mecca on Nov. 4, 2011. (Photo: AP)
Three buses carrying Turkish pilgrims to Turkey from Saudi Arabia, where they were going to perform the Islamic pilgrimage, were attacked at a check point in Syria, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
The Foreign Ministry said according to initial reports that the attack occurred near the central city of Homs, where Syrian activists reported at least nine people killed by security forces on Sunday. The statement said two Turkish citizens were injured in the attack.
Turkish NTV news channel said the driver of one of the three buses and a pilgrim were wounded in the attack at a checkpoint just across the Syrian border. Private news agency Doğan showed images of a passenger bus with one of its side windows broken at the Cizre border crossing inside Turkey.
Passengers on the bus said they had been told to disembark at a checkpoint by up to eight uniformed Syrian soldiers. One passenger said the soldiers started firing randomly at the pilgrims as they ran away. A Turkish foreign ministry official told Reuters that he was aware of an incident and the ministry was trying to establish the details.
Driver of one of the buses, Erhan Sürmeli, said the bus was carrying 25 butchers back to Turkey from Saudi Arabia following the Muslim festival of Eid Al-Adha, or the feast of sacrifice.
"We had stopped at a checkpoint," Sürmeli told The Associated Press by telephone. "Syrian soldiers emerged from behind sandbags and cursed [Turkish Prime Minister] Recep Tayyip Erdoğan when we told them we were Turks. Then they suddenly opened fire at the bus."
Sürmeli said he heard that two other Turkish buses had come under attacks and another passenger was injured. They were able to cross into Turkey, he said.
Passengers disembarking at Cizre told Doğan they had been told to get off the bus by up to eight uniformed Syrian soldiers at a checkpoint.
"They were hidden in their hideouts ... these were soldiers, these were not civilians, their flags were there," a male passenger in his thirties said.
One of the soldiers said "'come, come', he wanted to get me inside, I didn't go inside," the passenger said.
"I had nothing in my hands, there were seven or eight of them. He cocked his gun at me and said 'put your hands up' ... I shouted for everyone to run, we ran and they started firing at our backs. God saved us," he said.
"We have returned from death. We have returned from death," said another male middle-aged passenger, sobbing as he spoke.
It was not immediately clear when the incident happened, but it appeared to have taken place overnight.
The wounded were being treated in a hospital in Antakya, in Turkey's Hatay province just across the Turkish border, NTV reported.
The attack is likely to further deteriorate Turkey's relations with the Syrian administration. Turkey, once a close ally of the Syrian president, has gradually toughened its criticism of the Syrian regime for its brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests. Last month, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan slammed Assad, suggesting that Syria would be the next country for the Arab Spring and that Assad would eventually be ousted by his own people.
Turkish pilgrims come under attack in Syria, two wounded
