Syria continues attacks on Turkey

BEIRUT -- Syria's cross-border attacks on Turkey in the past week look increasingly like they could be an intentional escalation meant to send a clear message to Ankara, and beyond, that the crisis is simply too explosive to risk foreign military intervention.

With Turkey eager to defuse the crisis, the spillover of fighting is giving new life to a long-shot political solution, with the Turks floating the idea of making Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa interim leader if President Bashar Assad steps aside.

A military option, which would involve foreign powers that already have expressed a deep reluctance to getting involved, is still not on the table, analysts say, despite six days of Turkish retaliation against bombardment from inside Syria.

"Syria is aware that Turkey cannot go a step further," said Ali Tekin, assistant professor of international relations at Bilkent University in Ankara. "The Turkish people don't want a war and there are no vital national interests at stake to warrant a war."

The most recent flare-up started Wednesday, when a shell fired from Syria slammed into a house in the Turkish border village of Akcakale, killing two women and three children. That set off the most serious and prolonged eruption of violence along the frontier since the uprising began nearly 19 months ago.

It was not clear whether the shelling was intentional, but Turkey responded swiftly, firing back and convening parliament for a vote that authorized further cross-border military operations if necessary.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cautioned Damascus not to test Turkey's "limits and determination." But the Syrian shelling has continued every day -- leading many observers to conclude the acts are intentional provocation.

A suicide attacker detonated a car bomb Monday near a compound of the Syrian intelligence service in Harasta on the outskirts of Damascus, a Syrian official said. The explosion was followed by armed clashes.