A woman visits St Savior in Chora church, known as Kariye in Turkish, in Istanbul, Friday, August 21, 2020. Turkey on Friday formally converted former Byzantine church, St Savior in Chora, into a mosque, a month after it similarly turned Istanbul's landmark Hagia Sophia into a Muslim house of prayer, drawing international rebuke. (Photo by Emrah Gurel/AP Photo)

Demonstrators kiss in front of police, during a protest on the day Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was jailed as part of a corruption investigation, in Istanbul, Turkey, on March 23, 2025. (Photo by Umit Bektas/Reuters)

A protesters holds a flower as stand behind police barrier during a protest after Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested and sent to prison, in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (Photo by Francisco Seco/AP Photo)

A tourist takes photos in an open-air studio with a view of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, July 19, 2025. (Photo by Emrah Gurel/AP 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)

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)

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.

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)