(Image source: Wikimedia Commons )

 


BY STACEY WELSH

ANCHOR LAUREN GORES

 

Violence has spilled into Turkey for the first time since the country began sheltering Syrian refugees. The BBC reports gunfire broke out near a refugee camp on Monday.

 

“The result was several people wounded inside Turkey, including a Turkish translator... which will be important because it will further aggravate tensions between Turkey and Syria.”

 

The violence comes as a U.N. peace plan nearly collapsed — sparking fear the Syrian uprising will spread to neighboring countries. The BBC reports Turkey summoned Syria’s U.N. envoy- Kofi Annan- to demand an end to the violence.

 

A Turkish diplomat tells Sky News :

 

“Annan is to travel to Turkey on Tuesday, on the eve of a trip to Syria's ally Iran, for a visit to Syrian refugee camps near the border.”

 

Syria agreed to withdraw troops from the country’s cities by Tuesday — but a Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman suggests the regime does not want to make that commitment. T he Washington Post reports that spokesman ...

 

“...called for written guarantees from armed groups that they would lay down their weapons in exchange for government forces’ withdrawal from cities.”

 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the shots were reportedly from Syrian soldiers firing at rebels in the camp. CNN explains the violence across the Turkish border could have been a deliberate delay tactic.

 

“This could be viewed as a negotiating tactic. It also could be viewed as a legitimate concern from the Syrian government.”

 

Turkey’s deputy foreign minister told state media nothing will change after the April 10 deadline, calling the chance of a Syrian troop withdrawal "effectively void."