"Turkey is not allowing any armed groups (to launch attacks) against other countries," a Turkish diplomat who declined to be named said, when asked about the Syrian news reports.
Syria's official news agency SANA reported Tuesday that Syrian border guards had the previous night thwarted an attempt by "armed terrorist groups from Turkey" to cross into the country.
The guards had wounded an unspecified number of the 35 gunmen they had intercepted without suffering any casualties on their side, SANA reported. "Cars were heard taking the wounded gunmen away on the Turkish side," the report added.
"No military activity has been observed on the Syrian side of the border," the Turkish diplomat said.
Turkey is home to around 7,500 refugees who have fled Syrian President Bashar Assad's deadly crackdown.
Damascus welcomed the Turkish pledge. "We welcome any Turkish statement aiming to preserve good neighborly relations with Syria," Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdisi told a news conference broadcast live on state television.
Turkey also said Wednesday it would begin exporting goods to Egypt via sea and overland through Iraq this week as it seeks to bypass existing trade routes through Syria following a breakdown in ties with its southern neighbor.
Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said Damascus had started allowing Turkish trucks to enter Syria on Tuesday after blocking their entry last week in retaliation for sanctions imposed by Ankara.
Turkey has been eying new trade routes to the Middle East ever since relations with Syria broke down following Ankara's increased criticism of Assad over his bloody crackdown.
"It is very easy for us to bypass Syria but we had preferred not to do this. We had still wanted to transit our trade through Syria and let the Syrian economy make money out of this," Caglayan told Turkish television channel CNBC-e.
"But they wanted it this way. I say again, whatever they do they will suffer more than Turkey every time. To do trade with the Middle East and the Gulf, (we) do not have to go through Syria. Our A, B and C plans are already in place."
Caglayan said cargo ships would start sailing between Turkey's southern Mediterranean port of Mersin and Egypt's Alexandria on Thursday. Trucks would also begin crossing into Iraq.
Speaking to ABC's Barbara Walters in a rare interview, Assad denied ordering his troops to kill peaceful demonstrators. "We don't kill our people ... No government in the world kills its people, unless it's led by a crazy person."
"They're not my forces," Assad responded when asked if Syrian troops had cracked down too hard on protesters. "They are military forces (who) belong to the government. I don't own them. I'm president. I don't own the country."
The UN estimates more than 4,000 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising began in March. "Who said the United Nations is a credible institution?" Assad said, when Walters asked him about allegations of widespread violence and torture.
