Turkish pilgrim bus attack
Encyclopedia
The Turkish pilgrim bus attack occurred on November 21, 2011 when two out of a convoy of eight to nine buses carrying Turkish pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia
came under fire from Syrian soldiers.
The attack happened at a checkpoint
near Homs
as the buses of a Turkish company headed towards Turkey via the Bab Hawa border crossing. The gunfire left two people injured. It was reported by the BBC that: "Syrian soldiers emerged from behind sandbags and cursed [Turkish Prime Minister] Recep Tayyip Erdogan
" when they were told the passengers were Turks. "Then they suddenly opened fire at the bus." One pilgrim stated: "We could have died."
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
came under fire from Syrian soldiers.
The attack happened at a checkpoint
Checkpoint
- Places :* Border checkpoint, a place on the land border between two states where travellers and/or goods are inspected** Checkpoint Charlie, the best known crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War...
near Homs
Homs
Homs , previously known as Emesa , is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is above sea level and is located north of Damascus...
as the buses of a Turkish company headed towards Turkey via the Bab Hawa border crossing. The gunfire left two people injured. It was reported by the BBC that: "Syrian soldiers emerged from behind sandbags and cursed [Turkish Prime Minister] Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been Prime Minister of Turkey since 2003 and is chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party , which holds a majority of the seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Erdoğan served as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He graduated in 1981 from Marmara...
" when they were told the passengers were Turks. "Then they suddenly opened fire at the bus." One pilgrim stated: "We could have died."