Turkey will respond to Syrian agression - Erdogan

Turkey is reluctant to be drawn into a regional conflict, but the proximity of bombing raids to its border is testing its pledge to defend itself from any violation of its territory or any spillover of violence from Syria, Hurriyet reports.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan stressed that Ankara would not hesitate to respond if threatened.

"We are giving the necessary response at the border and will not refrain from a much harsher response if necessary," he told deputies of his AK Party. "Nobody should play with fire or try to test Turkey's patience."

Turkey has repeatedly fired back in retaliation for stray gunfire and mortar rounds flying across its 900 km border with Syria, and is talking to NATO allies about the possible deployment of Patriot surface-to-air missiles.

Ankara says this would be a defensive step, but it could also be a prelude to enforcing a no-fly zone in Syria to limit the reach of Assad's air power. Western powers have so far been reluctant to take such a step.