Turkish army builds new base opposite Syria’s Latakia

HATAY

Military equipment was carried by trucks for two days from the Yayladağı district of the southern Hatay province. AA Photo

The Turkish armed forces have begun to establish a new base on the top of Kel Mountain, adjacent to the Syrian coastal city of Latakia.

Military equipment, which was carried by trucks for two days from the Yayladağı district of the southern Hatay province, is being assembled on the top of the mountain. The base is close to where a Turkish plane was shot down by regime forces in 2012.

The army has beefed up its military presence along its southern border with Syria in recent days, in anticipation of strikes on the regime in Damascus.

Coastguard boats have been dispatched to the coast of Samandağ, a town from where bombs were previously transferred to Reyhanlı, where 53 people were killed in a bombing in May.

Trucks, carrying armored vehicles and tanks, have also been dispatched to the southeastern city of Şanlıurfa’s Mürşitpınar border post.