NATO monitors tension in Turkey-Syria border

After Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that Turkey could seek NATO's help if similar incidents occur, NATO said yesterday that it was concerned about an incident on the Turkish-Syrian border this week, resulting in casualties. NATO Spokeswoman Carmen Romero expressed concern over the incident and said yesterday that the alliance is "monitoring the situation very closely and will continue to do so." Romero underlined that NATO "takes it very seriously protecting its members." Furthermore, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told reporters that the "onus is on Syria" to keep the government's promise and hold to a cease-fire, adding that the situation looks calmer as of this moment on the ground in Syria, but that the cease-fire was very fragile and may be broken anytime. "The world is watching, however, with skeptical eyes, since many promises previously made by the government of Syria have not been kept," Ban said.