Turkey accused a group with links to Syrian intelligence of carrying out car bombings that killed 46 people in a Turkish border town, and said it was time for the world to act against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Turkey has stepped up retaliatory artillery strikes on a Syrian border town, killing several Syrian soldiers, while its parliament approved further military action in the event of another spillover of the Syrian conflict.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has warned that his country is "not far" from war with Syria following cross-border attacks this week - words which highlighted the danger that the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Asaad will drag in its neighbours.
Turkey has returned fire after Syrian mortar bombs landed in a field in southern Turkey, a day after Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan warned Damascus that Turkey would not shy away from war if provoked.
Turkish forces have fired across the frontier into Syria after a shell launched from Syria landed in Turkey's border town of Akcakale, underlining Ankara's warning that it will respond with force to any violence spilling over into its territory.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan says a Syrian passenger plane forced to land in Ankara was carrying Russian-made munitions destined for Syria's armed forces, ratcheting up tension with his country's war-torn neighbour.
Turkey has banned all Syrian aircraft from its air space as it takes an increasingly firm stance against President Bashar al-Assad, while Syrian rebels said they had made more gains in a key province near the Turkish border.
Turkish police have fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse thousands of secularists protesting at a banned rally in the capital against what they see as an increasingly authoritarian and Islamist government.
Russia says no weapons were aboard a Syrian civilian jet grounded by Turkish authorities on Wednesday and the plane had been carrying a legal shipment of radar equipment.
Turkey scrambled fighters and briefly detained a Syrian passenger plane, suspecting it of carrying military equipment from Moscow, while Turkey's military chief warned of a more forceful response if shelling continued to spill over the border.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul says the "worst-case scenarios" are now playing out in Syria and Turkey will do everything necessary to protect itself, as its army fired back for a sixth day after a shell from Syria flew over the border.
Turkey's armed forces command says it has scrambled a total of six F-16 fighter jets in three separate incidents responding to Syrian military helicopters approaching the border on Saturday, but there was no violation of Turkish airspace.
Officials in Turkey say Syrian forces have fired towards a Turkish military transport plane involved in a search for an F-4 reconnaissance jet shot down by Syria last week, but the second aircraft was not brought down.
Turkey has accused Syria of shooting down a military reconnaissance jet in international airspace without warning and called a NATO meeting to discuss a response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The Turkish and Syrian navies are conducting a joint search for Turkish airmen shot down by Syria over the Mediterranean, only a short distance from a Turkish province hosting thousands of rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad.
Turkish warplanes killed 35 civilian smugglers in northern Iraq after mistaking them for Kurdish militants, Ankara's ruling party says, promising not to allow a cover-up of an incident that threatens to wreck relations with minority Kurds.
Turkey's foreign minister has recognised Libya's rebel leaders as the country's legitimate representatives and promised them an additional $US200 million in aid during a visit.
Hundreds of earthquake survivors huddled in aid tents and around bonfires today in eastern Turkey, seeking relief from the winter cold after a strong temblor knocked down stone and mud-brick houses in five villages, killing 51 people.
