The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean categorically condemns the shelling yesterday by Syrian troops of the Turkish border town of Akçakale, which killed five and injured many more innocent civilians.
The sovereignty and integrity of a neighbouring state should be respected at all times. PAM, where both Turkey and Syria are members, called for restraint from all sides, and insisted that first and foremost the focus should be on the immediate solution to the internal situation in Syria, also through the collaboration with the UN-LAS Joint Representative to Syria, who enjoys the full support of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, as recently stressed on the occasion of a bilateral meeting with Mr. Brahimi in New York last week.
In the second place, all efforts should be made in order to avoid the spill-over of the Syrian crisis to all neighbouring countries, most of which will be represented by their national parliamentarians in Malta next week on the occasion of the 7th PAM Plenary Session.
Malta, 4 October 2012