Military Council informed about Syrian border news

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

DHA photo

Second Army Commander Gen. Servet Yörük briefed the members of the Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) yesterday about the Turkish army’s massing along the border with Syria and its preparedness for any potential emergency that could be caused by a massive influx into Turkish territory. The briefing took place on the second day of the YAŞ meetings, chaired by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The members of YAŞ discussed the developments along the Syrian border and reviewed contingency plans, including possible measures that could be taken to host fleeing Syrians within Syria itself. The briefing also contained information on developments in northern Syria, where the Democratic Union of Kurdistan (PYD), an organization with ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has seized control of a number of towns on the border with Turkey.

In earlier statements, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu had said Turkey could host Syrian refugees inside Syria, which would mean crossing the border into Syria accompanied by the military.

With the Free Syrian Army’s (FSA) recent successes in Aleppo, a de facto corridor is said to have been established between the city and the Turkish border, which could be used for the transfer of humanitarian goods as well as other logistical needs.

The council also examined the dossiers of military personnel set to be promoted to higher ranks and continued to discuss how to avert a crisis in the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), due to the pending promotions of 68 generals.

No water on table during Ramadan

As this year’s YAŞ meeting coincided with Ramadan, the official program of the meetings did not include lunch. Furthermore, there was no water service for the participants in YAŞ, with the picture of them at the meeting showing that there were no bottles of water on the table, unlike in previous years. Like last year, Erdoğan sat alone at the head of the table.