Tensions Escalate Along Turkish-Syrian Border

by AK Group

Tensions have grown on the Turkish-Syrian border, where Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's army has reportedly deployed tanks as reinforcements.

The reports of reinforcements on the Syrian side of the border, which appeared in the Turkish media, came days after Syrian news agency, SANA, reported a failed infiltration attempt from Turkey by a group of "35 armed terrorists."

Foreign Ministry sources declined to comment on the reports, with one official only saying: "We have [been] following and carefully examining the reports."

Observers say Turkey would not be surprised to see Syria reinforcing its troops and increasing the number of tanks near the border. This is because Ankara is increasingly aware that Syrian troops find it more and more difficult to suppress unrest as the security situation keeps deteriorating in the country.

Turkey, once a close ally of al-Assad, has been harshly critical of his brutal crackdown on an eight-month anti-regime uprising. Ankara has already announced a set of economic sanctions on Syria to pressure al-Assad to stop a crackdown on protests, and a Turkish minister announced on Wednesday that Turkey will also impose a 30 percent tariff on all Syrian goods.

"We will place a 30 percent tax on all goods coming from Syria," Customs and Trade Minister Hayati Yazıcı was quoted as saying by private NTV television.

Turkey, which fears a civil war in Syria, has said a buffer zone may be required on its 900-kilometer (550-mile) border with Syria if the violence causes a mass exodus from Syrian towns. In addition, some officers of the rebel Free Syrian Army, a group of army defectors and regime opponents, are based in Turkey, which is widely referred to as the main protector of the Syrian opposition in the international media.

As tensions escalate between the two neighbors, a news report said Syrian troops on the Turkish border opened fire in sustained bursts on Wednesday. "We heard heavy gunfire," Abu Fahd, a villager in the Turkish border village of Güveççi, told Reuters by telephone, adding that it came from the Syrian side of the frontier. "The rattle and sounds were heard until early dawn."

Another man in the village, Abu Yousef, said he saw firing coming from Syrian army positions and believed they had been aiming at people trying to cross the border. "The Syrians were firing close to the border from sniper posts on the hillside."

An officer of the Free Syrian Army told Reuters that a rebel force attacked a Syrian police station near the border on Tuesday, sparking heavy clashes. Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said the fighters had mounted the assault from within Syria and had not come across from Turkey. However, several of those wounded in the action were later taken to hospitals in Turkey.

"There was heavy shooting in Ain al-Baida with the army shelling homes in retaliation for an operation conducted by Free Army elements operating in the area against security forces. I can confirm several people were wounded and smuggled and taken to hospitals on the Turkish side," the officer said.

Another Syrian army defector who was aware of the incident said at least three men wounded in the clashes had been taken over into Turkey.

"The Turks don't turn anyone away," he said.

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-265214-tensions-escalate-along-turkish-syrian-border.html

Syria Closes Border Gate with Turkey

Syria on Thursday closed one of its border gates with Turkey as relations were strained further with Ankara's sanctions on Damascus to punish the Syrian regime over its refusal to end a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

A local Turkish governor said Syrian officials had cited maintenance work for the closure of the gate at the Nusaybin town of the southeastern province of Mardin.

"They have told us that they would open the gate once the maintenance was over," said Murat Girgin, Nusaybin's governor.

The governor said a group of around 100 people, including Syrian nationals, were denied entry into Syria's Kamisli town, adding that the group was waiting on the Turkish side of border.

AK Group

Source: http://www.hudson-ny.org/2656/tensions-escalate-along-turkish-syrian-border

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