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UN chief warns spillover of Syrian crisis

05 October 2012 01:43 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon said Thursday that he is alarmed by the escalating tensions along the Syrian-Turkish border and warned the spillover of the Syrian crisis, APA reports.

Ban made clear his concern about the spillover of the Syrian crisis into neighboring countries as occurred with Turkey in a statement issued by his spokesperson.

"As the situation inside Syria deteriorates yet further -- including the atrocious terrorist bombings in Aleppo this week which killed dozens of people including civilians -- the risks of regional conflict and the threat to international peace and security are also increasing," he noted.

At least five people were killed and 13 others wounded by artillery shells from Syria which fell in Turkey’s southeastern Sanliurfa province Wednesday. In response, Turkey attacked targets in Syria and the retaliatory strikes continued through Thursday morning.

Turkey has demanded that the UN Security Council and NATO take action against Damascus after Wednesday’s attack, which has drawn sharp criticism from the Western world.

In an emergency session held Thursday, Turkish parliament approved a motion for cross-border military operation inside Syria.

Ban said in the statement that the Joint Special Representative for Syria of the United Nations and the League of Arab States, Lakhdar Brahimi, has been in communication with officials from Turkey and Syria in order to encourage an easing of tensions.

The UN chief further called on "all concerned to abandon the use of violence, exercise maximum restraint and exert all efforts to move toward a political solution."