Turkish Army orders ‘highest level security’ to troops on Syria border

ANKARA

The Turkish Army (TSK) on Jan. 18 ordered its troops on the Syrian border in southern Turkey to increase security measures to the “highest level” ahead of a possible military operation into Afrin.

Following the National Security Council (MGK) convention led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and held in the Turkish capital on Jan. 17, the official statement said Turkey would take serious precautions against the contentious U.S.-backed Kurdish militia on its borders.

“Turkey will not allow a terrorist army to form on its borders nor will it accept a terror corridor near itself. All precautions necessary to prevent such an outcome will be taken,” the statement read following the meeting.

Meanwhile, using artillery fire, Turkish Armed Forces have retaliated to attacks made by the Kurdish militia in northern Syria in the early morning, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Jan. 18, citing sources on the ground.

The retaliation against the People’s Protection Units/Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PYD/PKK) was a move of self-defense, the agency reported.

Nine tanks deployed to the Syria-Turkey border have recently reached their destinations in Hatay’s Kırıkhan and Hassa counties in the south, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Jan. 18.