People protect themselves behind a trash can as anti-riot olice fires water cannon to disperse thousands of people demonstrating following the death of Berkin Elvan, a teenage boy wounded in mass anti-government demonstrations last year, on March 11, 2014 near the Middle East Technical University (ODTU) in Ankara. Elvan's story – he spent 269 days in a coma – gripped the nation and became a symbol of the heavy-handed tactics used by police to reign in the biggest demonstrations against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan since he came to power in 2003. (Photo by Adem Altan/AFP Photo)

Children look at Hares and Ducks ahead of the Turkey and dressed poultry auction at Chelford Market, northern England December 22, 2014. (Photo by Phil Noble/Reuters)

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.

Medics carry an injured at the explosion site in the busy center of Turkish capital, Ankara, Turkey, Sunday, March 13, 2016. The explosion is believed to have been caused by a car bomb that went off close to bus stops. News reports say the large explosion in the capital has caused several deaths and many casualties. (Photo by AP Photo)

A wrestling camel adorned with colourful ornaments takes part in the Camel Beauty Contest ahead of the annual 40th Efes Selcuk Camel Wrestling Festival, in the Aegean town of Selcuk, near Izmir, Turkey on January 15, 2022. (Photo by Murad Sezer/Reuters)

Shepherd brothers Mustafa Erbay and Baran Erbay train their camels on snowy grounds, enabling them to become champions in competitions held in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions in Baskale district of Van, Turkey on February 1, 2020. (Photo by Ozkan Bilgin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A couple dance by the Golden Horn leading to the Bosphorus Strait separating Europe and Asia, in Istanbul, Friday, May 14, 2021. (Photo by Emrah Gurel/AP Photo)

A person rides a swing hanging from a crane with hot air balloons fly in the background in Nevsehir, Turkey on October 14, 2021. Tourists and those who want to take photos set up swings on the cranes they rent and then have their photos taken in the setting created by hot air balloons in the backgrounds. (Photo by Behcet Alkan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)