Turkey to hold military exercise near Syrian border

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.