Turkey reinforces Syria border
ANKARA: Turkish troops and tanks carried out military exercises on the border with Syria yesterday, staterun media reported, while a monitoring group said a Turkish convoy had crossed the frontier into northern Syria.
Turkey’s military sent tanks and armoured vehicles to the border in the second day of reinforcements near the province of Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold in Syria.
On Saturday, a Turkish security source said the Turkish army had been rotating forces in and out of the region, but declined to say whether the latest movement was in preparation for an operation inside Syria itself.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a Turkish convoy had entered Syria.
Islamist fighters have tightened their control over the Idlib region following more than a week of fighting with Turkeybacked Syrian rebels.
The rise of the jihadist Hayat Tahrir al Sham has raised doubt over the future of a deal agreed in September between Turkey and President Bashar alAssad’s main ally, Russia, to avert a Syrian Government army assault. The agreement requires banned Islamist groups to be expelled from a frontline buffer zone.
The escalation in Idlib comes as US forces prepare to withdraw from a separate region of northern and eastern Syria.
Earlier yesterday, the Turkish defence minister, chief of general staff and the intelligence agency head visited border military units and discussed ‘‘measures to establish peace and stability in the region’’, the ministry said.
‘‘We are making every effort to preserve the ceasefire and stability in Idlib, in line with the Sochi agreement. Our close cooperation with Russia continues,’’ Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said. — Reuters