Residents of this sleepy Turkish border town breathed a sigh of relief on Thursday.

For the first time in a week, there were no explosions, bullets or bombs coming from the Syrian side of the border.

The lull led some locals to gloat.

"You're late," announced the owner of a tea shop, as a van full of foreign journalists pulled up to his business, 20 meters from the border fence.

But worry was still in the air.

"It's quiet today," said a grizzled Turkish man sipping a glass of tea. "I hope that $*&# guy running that country doesn't do something #*&$ today," he cursed.

Fighting first erupted in the area on November 8, when Syrian rebels mounted an assault on Syrian government forces in the neighboring Syrian town of Ras Al Ain. Ras Al Ain, Syria, and Ceylanpinar, Turkey, are effectively one town, separated by a fence and a parallel line of railroad tracks.

The next day, rebels claimed victory. They raised the opposition flag triumphantly over Ras Al Ain, despite the fact that their offensive had sent thousands of terrified residents streaming across the border to Turkey for safety.

Those refugee numbers swelled when Syrian regime forces struck back, pounding Ras Al Ain with artillery, airstrikes and bombardments with "barrel bombs" hurled out of hovering helicopters.

As Ras Al Ain shook and shuddered, Turkish soldiers and ambulances waited at the nearby border gate, collecting scores of Syrians who arrived wounded, and rushing them to nearby hospitals.

Locals said Turkish authorities parked lines of railroad cars on the tracks between the two towns in an effort to protect Ceylanpinar from shrapnel and errant bullets. But the Turkish government said at least a half dozen Turks were wounded during the week of fighting.

On Wednesday, Turkey's defense minister issued a warning to Syria.

"We will respond to Syrian planes or helicopters that violate our borders," said Ismet Yilmaz. "Syria has been given a note of protest. Our citizens, especially residents of the (border) regions, should stay calm. Our armed forces are on duty full time and the troops on the ground have been authorized to intervene immediately when necessary."

Whether or not Damascus heeded Ankara's warning is not clear. But on Thursday, after being shuttered for days, shops were once again open in downtown Ceylanpinar.

Mehmet Saitavci, a community leader and the owner of a stationery shop, pointed out businesses that had windows shattered by the force of the Syrian airstrikes.

"Of course we were afraid," he said. "Jets flew overhead, there were bombardments, the children were terrified. We had to close the schools for their safety!"

Now, houses were packed full of refugees. An officer from the local Zabita, a municipal police force, said he was hosting 30 Syrian refugees in his home.

Volunteers at a nearby municipal building distributed yogurt, beans and bread to families, while also hosting scores of refugees.

These frightened Syrians said Ras Al Ain had been a safe haven until last week's rebel attack.

"From the beginning of the revolution, refugees came from all across Syria to Ras Al Ain because it was safe," said Rashid Mohammed, a Kurdish farmer who was living in the municipal building with 60 of his relatives. He said seven of his cousins were killed by government helicopter attacks.