Photo Gallery Border Disputes
On Wednesday night, Turkey forced this Syrian Air jet en route from Moscow to Damascus to land in Ankara. Turkish officials believe it may have been carrying military equipment bound for the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad. An unnamed Russian official has denied the plane was carrying any military equipment.
Syrian leader Bashar Assad (right) can be seen here at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Damascus in February. Russia is Syria's closest ally. Together with China, Russia has used its veto power on the United Nations Security Council to stop resolutions against Syria on a number of occasions.
Russia is consider an important weapons dealer to Assad's regime in Syria. Here, the Russian destroyer-class warship Smetlivy can be seen as it is escorted by a Turkish Navy coast guard boat through the Bosphorus in Istanbul.
Relations between Turkey and Damascus have been tense since the outbreak of the civil war in Syria. In recent days, several skirmishes have broken out on the border shared by the countries. Turkey has since reinforced its border regions with greater numbers of troops. Here, Turkish soldiers can be seen in the border city of Akcakale, the site of shelling that killed five Turkish civilians just one week ago.
Turkey has also deployed tanks to guard the Turkish-Syrian border in an escalation of the situation.
Close to 100,000 Syrian refugees are currently residing in camps and other shelter in Turkey, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has estimated that number could swell to as many as 280,000 by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the civil war continues in Syria, with heavy fighting between rebels and Assad's soldiers. Here, members of the Free Syrian Army walk in the Hanano area of Aleppo city in northern Syria.
