Twin car bombs killed around 43 people and wounded many more in a Turkish town near the Syrian border on Saturday and Turkey said it suspected Syrian involvement. The bombing increased fears that Syria's civil war was dragging in neighbouring states despite renewed diplomatic moves towards ending fighting in which more than 70,000 people have been killed.
The bombs ripped into crowded streets in the early afternoon in Reyhanli, scattering cars and concrete blocks in the town in Turkey's southern Hatay province, home to thousands of Syrian refugees. President Bashar al-Assad's administration was the "usual suspect" in the attacks, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said. "We know that the people taking refuge in Hatay have become targets for the Syrian regime," Arinc said in comments broadcast on Turkish television. "We think of them as the usual suspects when it comes to planning such a horrific attack."
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Nor was there any comment from Damascus. Nato member Turkey supports the uprising against Assad and violence has crossed the border before, but not on the same scale. Turkey is far from alone in fearing the impact of Syria's war, which is already helping inflame the Middle East's tangle of sectarian, religious and nationalist struggles. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said it was no coincidence the bombings came as diplomatic moves to end the Syrian conflict intensify.
"There may be those who want to sabotage Turkey's peace, but we will not allow that," Davutoglu told reporters during a trip to Berlin. "No-one should attempt to test Turkey's power." Prospects appeared to improve this week for diplomacy over the civil war, now in its third year, after Moscow and Washington announced a joint effort to bring government and rebels to an international conference.
But a Russian official said on Saturday that there was already disagreement over who would take part and he doubted whether a meeting could happen this month. As well as disputes over who would represent the rebels and government at any talks, there have also been questions over possible participation by Assad's Shia ally Iran. The rebels are backed by the largely Sunni Gulf states. Diplomats in New York said the Syria meeting would likely slip into June and it was unclear who would participate. In Reyhanli, smoke poured from charred ruins after the blasts outside administrative buildings.
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