In one of the deadliest attacks in Turkey in recent years, two car bombs exploded near the border with Syria on Saturday, killing 43 and wounding 140 others. Turkish officials blamed the attack on a group linked to Syria, and a deputy prime minister called the neighboring country's intelligence service and military "the usual suspects."

The blasts, which were 15 minutes apart and hit the town of Reyhanli's busiest street, raised fears that Turkey could increasingly be drawn into Syria's brutal civil war.

Turkey already hosts Syria's political opposition and rebel commanders, has given shelter to hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and in the past retaliated against Syrian shells that landed in Turkey.

People carry drinks at 80s Bar in Damascus, Syria, March 11, 2016. In Damascus's Old City, just a mile from the battered frontline between government and rebel-held territory, young Syrians smoke, drink beer or soft drinks, and talk about anything but the war. The revival of activity in this once-vibrant quarter is part of efforts to project an air of normality in the Syrian capital, even as the five-year-old war that has killed more than 250,000 people and created 5 million refugees continues to rage nearby. (Photo by Omar Sanadiki/Reuters)

A Tibetan man stirs butter tea made for the arriving guest during the function organised to mark Losar or the Tibetan New Year at a Tibetan Refugee Camp in Lalitpur February 19, 2015. Tibetans across the world marked the arrival of the New Year with prayers and festivities. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

A squatter argues with a police officer during an eviction at a settlement coined the “First of May Refugee Camp”, named for the date people moved on the land designated for a Petrobras refinery, in Itaguai, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Thursday, July 1, 2021, amid the new coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo)

A migrant holds a placard which reads “No Forced Deportations” as he rides his bicycle at the makeshift camp called “The New Jungle” in Calais, France, September 18, 2015. Around 3,500 migrants and refugees are camped in Calais, fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia and now living in the jungle. Most of them are hoping to make the crossing to England. (Photo by Regis Duvignau/Reuters)

A woman tries to protect her daughter as refugees scuffle with the Greek police in their effort to reach the borderline with Macedonia, near the Greek village of Idomeni, Sunday, November 22, 2015. Over 1,000 migrants gathered in the Greek town Idomeni protested Saturday against the decision by Macedonian authorities across the border to turn away migrants who are not from war zones such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. (Photo by Giannis Papanikos/AP Photo)

A resident carries a gas canister as an ash cloud hovers above during an eruption of Mount Sinabung volcano at Tiga Serangkai village in Karo Regency, North Sumatra province, Indonesia June 24, 2015. More than 10,000 people from 12 villages, who are living around the slopes of Mount Sinabung, left their homes and moved to refugee camps, local media reported. (Photo by Reuters/Beawiharta)

A Rohingya Muslim girl, Saira Begum carries food items distributed in aid as she walks towards her shelter in Taiy Khali refugee camp, Bangladesh, Tuesday, September 19, 2017. With a mass exodus of Rohingya Muslims sparking accusations of ethnic cleansing from the United Nations and others, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday said her country does not fear international scrutiny and invited diplomats to see some areas for themselves. (Photo by Dar Yasin/AP Photo)