2012 Syrian – Turkish border clashes The 2012 Syrian – Turkish border clashes occurred on 3 October 2012 , when an artillery shell fired from Syria by the Syrian Army killed five and injured at least ten Turkish citizens in the border town of Akçakale in Şanlıurfa Province , Turkey . The Turkish armed forces artillery units conducted saturation shelling of Syrian military posts . Background . Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war , Turkey , once an ally of Syria , has condemned Assad over the use of violent forces against protesters and has requested his departure from office . In October 2011 , Turkey began sheltering the Free Syrian Army , offering the group a safe zone and a base of operation . Together with Saudi Arabia and Qatar , Turkey has also provided the rebels with arms and other military equipment . On 22 June 2012 , a Turkish F - 4 fighter jet was shot down by Syrian government forces . Both pilots were killed . Syria stated that it had shot the fighter down using anti - aircraft artillery near the village of Om al - Tuyour , while it was flying over Syrian territorial waters one kilometre away from land . Turkey ' s foreign minister stated the jet was shot down in international airspace after accidentally entering Syrian airspace , while it was on a training flight to test Turkey ' s radar capabilities . Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed retaliation , saying : " The rules of engagement of the Turkish Armed Forces have changed . . . Turkey will support Syrian people in every way until they get rid of the bloody dictator and his gang . " Ankara acknowledged that the jet had flown over Syria for a short time , but said such temporary overflights were common , had not led to an attack before , and alleged that Syrian helicopters had violated Turkish airspace five times without being attacked and that a second , search - and - rescue jet had been fired at . Assad later expressed regret over the incident . In August 2012 , reports appeared in some Turkish newspapers claiming that the Turkish General Staff had deliberately misinformed the Turkish government about the fighter ' s location when it was shot down . The reports said that a NATO command post at Izmir and a British base in Cyprus had confirmed that the fighter was shot down inside Syrian waters and that radar intelligence from U . S . forces had disproved any " accidentally entered Syrian waters " flightpath error . The General Staff denied the claims . Timeline . Attacks from Syria . As the clashes between the government forces and the opposition in Syria intensified , artillery shells began to fall across the border onto Turkish soil . On 3 October 2012 at 16 : 25 EEST ( 13 : 25 UTC ) , a bomb fired from Syria hit a house in the central area of Akçakale . A 39 - year old mother and her three children aged between eight and 14 years and another woman of 40 years of age were killed by the blast . Thirteen others , including police officers , were injured . Three of the injured had light wounds while two of them were severely wounded . The source of the shells and their manufacturer remain unknown as Turkish authorities have not released a ballistic test . Turkish military retaliation . At 18 : 00 ( local time in Turkey ; GMT / UTC + 02 : 00 ) the same day , five F - 16 fighter s from the 8th Main Jet Base Group of the 2nd Tactical Air Force Command at Diyarbakır Air Base and RF - 4E reconnaissance aircraft from the 7th Main Jet Base Group Command in Malatya Erhaç Air Base conducted reconnaissance missions along the border , identifying Syrian military targets and relaying their coordinates to the Turkish Armed Forces Command in Ankara . Turkish artillery then conducted saturation shelling of these targets with T - 155 Fırtına howitzer s , which have a firing range of . The targeted region was Ayn al - Arus of Tal Abyad town in Ar - Raqqah Governorate across Akçakale . According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , Turkish shelling of a military post in Syria on 4 October 2012 resulted in the death of three Syrian soldiers . Mandate by Turkish parliament . On 4 October 2012 , the Turkish parliament , the Grand National Assembly of Turkey passed a motion by a vote of 320 - 129 authorizing the use of military ground troops to enter " foreign countries " for operations . The one - year mandate , according to Turkish officials , is not expected to be carried out . Further border incidents . On 5 October 2012 , shells fired by Syrian artillery in Latakia landed in the rural area of Aşağıpulluyazı village ( Coordinates : ) in the Yayladağı district of Hatay Province . The day before , Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had announced at a press conference during the official visit of Iranian First Vice President Mohammad - Reza Rahimi that a Syrian shell had fallen in Altınözü , Hatay Province . The second incident caused no damage to persons or property . Immediately after this second incident in Hatay , artillery of the Turkish 3rd Border Battalion stationed in Yayladağı fired on Syrian military targets . A grain depot in Akcakale suffered minor damage from shrapnel from a Syrian mortar round exploding on 6 October 2012 , though no injuries were reported . Turkey responded by shelling Syrian military targets over the border and positioning a platoon of ACV - 300 armored personnel carriers on the southern edge of Akçakale , with their weapons pointed at Tel Abyad , a town a few kilometres into Syria . On 8 October 2012 , Altınözü was again hit by Syrian mortar fire , the six shells landed in a rural area causing no injury or loss of life . Turkey responded soon after by shelling Syrian positions . On 10 October 2012 , Turkish Air Force F - 16s intercepted a Syrian Air Airbus A320 , flight RB442 from Moscow to Damascus , in Turkish airspace and forced it to land at Esenboğa International Airport , suspecting it was carrying Russian - made weapons . Inspectors claimed confiscating ammunition , military communications equipment and items " thought to be missile parts " , however evidence has not been publicly shown . The Russian foreign minister denied the claims and said that the plane cargo included only radar units . On 17 October 2012 , Turkish artillery fired into Syria after a Syrian mortar shell landed on Turkish territory in Hatay province . No casualties were reported on either side . On 23 October 2012 , an anti - aircraft shell struck a health center in Reyhanlı , approximately from the Syrian border . The shell landed in an empty room , and no injuries were reported . It was apparently fired from Harem , Idlib Governorate , where clashes were reportedly underway between rebels and government troops . Two Syrian anti - aircraft shells struck 300 meters north of the village of Beşaslan in Hatay Province , Turkey on 29 October 2012 , to which Turkey immediately responded by firing artillery rounds into Syria . Neither side reported casualties . In the morning hours of 12 November 2012 , a Syrian military helicopter bombed rebel positions around the town of Ras al - Ayn near the Turkish border across Ceylanpınar in Şanlıurfa Province . The rebels responded with heavy machine gun fire . Soon later , a Syrian fighter jet bombed the area . Glass windows of some buildings in the center of Ceylanpınar shattered by the blast . One Turkish soldier and two civilians on the Turkish side were reportedly wounded during the incident . Fleeing Syrian civilians crossed the border into Turkish territory . Several injured refugees were taken into a hospital in Ceylanpınar by ambulances . The town ' s mayor warned the residents not to come close to the border for their own security . Aftermath . January 2013 incident . In the early hours of 14 January 2013 , a shell fired by unknown Syrian forces landed in an olive grove near the border village of Akçabağlar , causing no casualties . On January 30 , Syrian El Muhaberat agents tried to cross the border between Turkey and Syria but were turned back under fire by Turkish forces . Two Syrian agents were wounded in the incident with no Turkish casualties reported . February 2013 border - crossing bombing . On 11 February 2013 , a bomb exploded at the Turkısh - Syrian border crossing in Cilvegözü , killing 14 . May 2013 Akcakale incident . On 2 May 2013 , fighting occurred between Syrian anti - government insurgents and Turkish border guards at the Akcakale border crossing . One Turkish border guard was killed in the engagement , reportedly the first armed clashes between Turkish government agents and anti - Assad militants . May 2013 Reyhanli bombing . On 11 May 2013 , two car bombs exploded in the Turkish city of Reyhanli , killing at least 40 and injuring over 100 . Turkish residents of the town reportedly attacked Syrian refugees and automobiles with Syrian license plates following the bombing . September 2013 Syrian helicopter shot down . On 16 September 2013 , Turkish fighter jets that took off from Malatya Erhaç Air Base shot down a Syrian Mi - 17 helicopter that violated Turkish airspace according to vice prime minister Bülent Arınç . NATO Response . Following Ankara ' s invocation of Article IV of the Washington Treaty , NATO ' s North Atlantic Council stated that the alliance : " " . . . demands the immediate cessation of such aggressive acts against an ally , and urges the Syrian regime to put an end to flagrant violations of international law . . . " " On 9 October 2012 , NATO Secretary - General Anders Fogh Rasmussen reported that NATO has completed making plans to defend Turkey from Syrian attacks . As a part of the plan for defending Turkey , MIM - 104 Patriot missiles from Netherlands , Germany , and U . S . were sent to Turkey and went active .