Turkey sends report to UN over possible chlorine gas attack

Uğur Ergan – ANKARA

Syrian children wait to receive treatment at a makeshift clinic following reported air strikes by government forces in the rebel-held town of Douma, on the eastern outskirts of Damascus, on April 4/ AFP PHOTO

Turkey sent a report to the United Nations just before a U.N. Security Council meeting to address accusations that the Syrian government staged a chemical weapons attack on April 4, stating that the gas used in the attack was chlorine gas. 

Turkey’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear teams (KBRN) prepared an initial report over the possible material of the alleged chemical attack, relying on the symptoms of and tests conducted on the victims and their testimonies. 

The report stated that the initial findings of the tests conducted on around 30 victims brought to Turkey for treatment pointed to a chlorine gas attack. 

In their first testimonies after starting to recover from the attack, the victims described the attack taking place before sunrise on April 4, while most people were asleep, adding that the second and third attacks followed soon after. 

The victims denied Russia’s claim that a Syrian air strike hit a “terrorist warehouse” used for making bombs containing “toxic substances,” saying the airstrike did not even hit a depot. 

Birds affected by the chemical gas fell on the ground from the sky and stray cats and dogs perished on the streets, the victims said. 

The Turkish Foreign Ministry sent the report, along with radar traces supposedly showing the fighter jets belonged to the Syrian army, to Turkey’s permanent representative to the U.N. to be presented at the Security Council meeting set to be held late on April 5. 

While KBRN and Turkish army forces were sent to the Syrian border to inspect the area and take the necessary precautions, Turkey prepared to set up tent camps for any Syrians who may need to cross to the country following the attack.