BEIRUT: Turkey called on Syria Wednesday to rein in violence against civilians and promised not to turn away refugees as some residents of a Syrian border town headed for the Turkish frontier in fear of a military assault. “Syria should change its attitude toward civilians and should take its attitude to a more tolerant level as soon as possible,” said Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who has had warm relations with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. Assad's government has accused armed bands of killing scores of its security men in Jisr Al-Shughour and has vowed to send in the army to carry out their “national duty to restore security”. Accounts of the violence that began in the hilly town of Jisr Al-Shughour Friday vary, with officials saying gunmen ambushed troops and residents reporting an army mutiny. The bloodshed has triggered international alarm that Syria may be entering an even more violent phase after three months of popular unrest that has cost more than 1,000 lives. At Jisr Al-Shughour, home to tens of thousands of people, residents said they were taking cover and bracing for attacks. Some 120 men, women and children fled into Turkey overnight to seek refuge, the Anatolian news agency said. Erdogan, who has distanced himself from Assad since the Syrian uprising began, said Turkey would not “close its doors” to refugees fleeing Syria. Rami Abdulrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops had deployed in villages around Jisr Al-Shughour, including Ariha to the east and on the main Latakia highway to the southwest. Residents said about 40 tanks and armored vehicles were about 7 km from Jisr Al-Shughour, which was now mostly empty, save for youth protesters.
