Turkish FM to visit Athens next week

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will visit Athens on October 10 for a meeting with his Greek counterpart Dimitris Avramopoulos, officials said Thursday. The announcement came from Greek foreign ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras. The news came as Turkish artillery hit targets near Syria's Tel Abyad border town for a second day on Thursday, killing several Syrian soldiers according to activists and security sources, after a mortar bomb fired from the area killed five Turkish civilians. Turkey's government said "aggressive action" against its territory by Syria's military had become a serious threat to its national security and sought parliamentary approval for the deployment of Turkish troops beyond its borders. Asked about developments in the area, Delavekouras referred journalists to Wednesday's meeting of meeting of NATO's North Atlantic Council. NATO has stood by member-nation Turkey and urged Syria to put an end to "flagrant violations of international law."