Assad government "usual suspects" in blasts-Turkish deputy PM

Source : LBCI News

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government are the "usual suspects" behind car bombs in Turkey on Saturday that killed 40 people and wounded 100 more, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said. Arinc also told reporters in comments broadcast live that Turkey must wait for the results of an investigation before deciding on any response.

The blasts occurred in the town of Reyhanli close to the border and home to many of the more than 300,000 refugees who have sought shelter from the uprising against Assad that erupted in Syria in March 2011.

Earlier, a Syrian activist said rebels have been able to cut a newly built desert road linking th northern city of Aleppo

Rami-Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said rebels took over two army posts on the road near Aleppo after days of fighting.

The regime built the desert road as a backup route after rebels captured the town of Maaret al-Numan in October cutting the main highway between the country's two largest cities.

The Observatory also reported clashes in the town of Qusair, near the border with Lebanon.

The fighting in the town came a day after U.N. commissioner for human rights Navi Pillay expressed alarm over Qusair, which has been besieged by Syrian troops for several weeks.

Positions:

Car bomb attacks which killed 20 people in a southern Turkish border town on Saturday may have been related to the conflict in Syria or to Turkey's own peace process with Kurdish militants, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said.

"We are going through sensitive times, we started a new era, the Kurdish issue solution process. Those who cannot digest this new era ... could take such actions," Erdogan said in comments broadcast on Turkish television.

"Another sensitive issue is that Hatay province (where the explosions occurred) is on the border with Syria, these actions may have been taken to provoke those sensitivities," he said.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu warned against testing Turkey's power, saying Ankara would take necessary measures to protect itself.

On another note, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had announced on Tuesday that they would seek to organize a conference on Syria and expressed hope it could be held this month.