Mob seeks revenge after twin bombings

REYHANLI, Turkey — The mob shouted “Kill the Syrians” as they marched on the Hawam family drinks stall in Reyhanli.

The family, refugees from Aleppo, served mainly fellow Syrians, and were natural targets after Saturday’s double bombing of the Turkish border town.

“There were 60, maybe 100 of them,” said Ridar Hawam, 18, the older boy. “They were shouting, ‘ You are Syrian, you are bombing us.’ They said they should shoot all Syrians, even the children.”

Three Syrians were among the 46 killed when the two car bombs struck the town centre on Saturday. But that did not lessen the anger vented against the refugees and the man many locals blame for bringing them to Reyhanli, the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Reyhanli is close to the Bab al- Hawa crossing, a funnel through which arms and men are flowing into Syria to bolster rebel forces. Upwards of 300,000 Syrians have flooded into Turkey, by no means confined to refugee camps on the border.

Erdogan and his ministers blamed Syrian leader Bashar Assad’s secret police, the mukhabarat, for the explosions, which would make this the worst “blowback” the country has suffered for its backing of the Syrian opposition.

But Erdogan suggested that Turkey would not be drawn in militarily in retaliation.

He insisted Turkey would “maintain our extreme coolheadedness in the face of efforts and provocations to drag us into the bloody quagmire.”

“Those who target Turkey will be held to account sooner or later,” he said.