Turkey mulling direct military intervention in Syria
The Turkish military has called on all troop commanders stationed along its border with Syria to be present at a meeting aimed at discussing a possible intervention in the crisis-hit country.
The meeting was called by Land Forces Commander General Hulusi Akar and 2nd Army Commander General Adem Huduti following a last week visit to the border region, the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet Daily reported on Sunday.
The meeting is set to take place in the capital city Ankara next week.
The deployment of some 400 armored vehicles and Turkish air force support for such an operation will be on top of agenda at the meeting.
Over the past week, Turkey has bolstered its military presence on its border regions with Syria with tanks, anti-aircraft missiles, and by increasing the number of ground troops to around 54,000 soldiers.
According to AFP, Turkey’s recent military boost has rekindled speculations that the country is planning to push back the ISIL Takfiri terrorists who currently control parts of land in Syria and Iraq and to stop the advance of Kurdish forces battling ISIL in the region.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to “never allow” the formation of a Kurdish state along Turkey’s southern borders.
On Thursday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu ruled out any manner of immediate military intervention in Syria, but his country would “not wait for tomorrow” to act in Syria “in the event of a threat to domestic security”.
Turkey is one of the main supporters of the Takfiri militancy against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, with reports showing that Ankara actively trains and arms the militants operating in Syria, and also facilitates safe passage of would-be foreign terrorists into the country, gripped by crisis since 2011.
SRK/NT/AS
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