Story Summary

Aware of the danger but drawn by curiosity, men huddled on a rooftop and gawped as artillery rounds crashed into the earth, yards from the flimsy fence that separates this Turkish border town from Syria.

In the 20 months since the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad began, one by one the sleepy Turkish towns and villages up and down this 900-km (550-mile) frontier have watched helplessly as the Syrian war edges ever closer.

Ras al-Ain, as the town on the Syrian side of the frontier is known, was overrun on Thursday by anti-Assad rebels advancing into Syria’s northeast, home to many ethnic Kurds.

Around 100 km (60 miles) west along the border, in the Turkish town of Akcakale, five civilians were killed last month when a mortar fired from Syria struck their home.

Turkish police trucks armed with water cannon, typically used in the past to suppress the restive ethnic Kurdish population of southeastern Turkey, including Ceylanpinar, now patrol the Syrian border

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http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Nov-12/194783-what-border-syria-war-reaches-turkey.ashx#ixzz2C5V9sf88
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)