Turkish army stages new drill near Syrian border: report

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

REUTERS Photo

Turkey's military on Thursday staged a military drill on its southeastern border near Syria, just a day after a tank exercise in another border region, the Anatolia news agency reported.
 
The military tested the speed and manoeuvrability of the tanks, armoured personnel carriers and missile launching platforms deployed in the Mursitpinar region of Sanliurfa province, along the Turkish frontier, said Anatolia.
 
Twenty-five tanks were involved in Thursday's exercise, it added.
 
The exercise comes after Turkey sent a convoy of tanks, weapons and ground-to-air missile batteries to the border with Syria, strengthening its defenses there.
 
On Wednesday, the military staged a tank exercise in the Nusaybin district of Mardin province that lies opposite to al-Qamishli in Syria, which was shuttered by Turkey to stop infiltration of Kurdish militants launching attacks on Turkish soil.
 
Turkey has been boosting its military presence on the border after a Turkish Phantom jet was shot down by Syria on June 22 and after reports that some regions in northern Syria had fallen to Kurdish militants.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said last week that it was a "given" that Turkish troops would pursue fleeing PKK militants inside Syria, warning that Ankara would not hesitate to strike "terrorists."