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TURKEY TO HOLD MILITARY EXERCISE NEAR SYRIAN BORDER
PanARMENIAN.Net
October 4, 2011 - 17:48 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey's military will conduct an exercise in the
southern province of Hatay, where more than 7,000 Syrians have taken
refuge from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's security forces.
The October 5-13 "mobilization" exercise, announced on the military's
website on Tuesday, October 4, may coincide with a visit that Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan is expected to make to refugee camps in Hatay
after he returns from South Africa this week.
The army said the exercise would involve the 39th mechanized infantry
brigade and 730 reserve soldiers, Reuters reported.
Turkey's once-close relations with Syria have soured as Erdogan has
fiercely criticized Assad's crackdown on protesters, urging him to
end the bloodshed and enact reforms.
Syria has a longstanding territorial claim to Hatay province, but had
put this on the back burner in recent years, when Erdogan and Assad
cultivated close ties.
Erdogan said last month that Assad would be ousted by his people
"sooner or later" and warned that Syria could slide into a sectarian
civil war between Alawites and Sunnis.
Most Syrians, like most Turks, are Sunni Muslims, while Assad is from
the minority Alawite Muslim sect.
Ankara, which has already imposed an arms embargo, has said it is
preparing further sanctions against the Syrian government.
The Hatay exercise may revive speculation, denied by officials, that
Turkey plans to create a buffer zone in Syria to protect civilians
and prevent a flood of refugees to Turkey.
PanARMENIAN.Net
October 4, 2011 - 17:48 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey's military will conduct an exercise in the
southern province of Hatay, where more than 7,000 Syrians have taken
refuge from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's security forces.
The October 5-13 "mobilization" exercise, announced on the military's
website on Tuesday, October 4, may coincide with a visit that Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan is expected to make to refugee camps in Hatay
after he returns from South Africa this week.
The army said the exercise would involve the 39th mechanized infantry
brigade and 730 reserve soldiers, Reuters reported.
Turkey's once-close relations with Syria have soured as Erdogan has
fiercely criticized Assad's crackdown on protesters, urging him to
end the bloodshed and enact reforms.
Syria has a longstanding territorial claim to Hatay province, but had
put this on the back burner in recent years, when Erdogan and Assad
cultivated close ties.
Erdogan said last month that Assad would be ousted by his people
"sooner or later" and warned that Syria could slide into a sectarian
civil war between Alawites and Sunnis.
Most Syrians, like most Turks, are Sunni Muslims, while Assad is from
the minority Alawite Muslim sect.
Ankara, which has already imposed an arms embargo, has said it is
preparing further sanctions against the Syrian government.
The Hatay exercise may revive speculation, denied by officials, that
Turkey plans to create a buffer zone in Syria to protect civilians
and prevent a flood of refugees to Turkey.