Turkey sends convoys of arms to its Syrian border

HATAY / KİLİS

A truck carries a Turkish missile launcher to a destination close to Turkey’s southern border with Syria.

Turkey has sent missile batteries, tanks and troops to the Syrian-Turkish border, almost a week after the Syria downed a Turkish military jet.

A first substantial convoy of about 30 military vehicles, including trucks loaded with anti-aircraft missile batteries was dispatched from Turkey’s coastal town of İskenderun and moving slowly towards the Syrian border 50 kilometers away. Several anti-aircraft guns have also been deployed elsewhere along the border. Some trucks were seen carrying self-propelled multiple rocket launchers, TRT footage showed.
Early yesterday, another convoy left a base at Gaziantep and headed for Kilis province, the site of a large camp for Syrian refugees. Video from Doğan news agency showed the convoy of about 12 trucks and transporters leaving through the gates of the base past a red and white star and crescent moon Turkish flag hanging nearby.

The deployment came before President Abdullah Gül chaired a National Security Council meeting, attended by Cabinet members and the military’s top brass, which was expected to focus on tensions with Syria.