Turkish officials: 2 Syrian generals defect

ANKARA – The Associated Press

Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay recently announced that the number of Syrians who have crossed into Turkey to flee the deadly violence that has engulfed their home country for the last 20 months has exceeded 145,000. REUTERS Photo

Officials at Turkey’s Foreign Ministry say two Syrian air force generals have defected and crossed the border.
 
The defection comes as rebels besiege the military air base of Mannagh near the Turkish border.
 
The officials said Friday the two generals were "regional Syrian Air Force commanders" and are now in a camp where army defectors stay in Turkey.
 
They refused to give the generals’ identities or say how they escaped from Syria. They spoke anonymously as they were not authorized to talk to the press.
 
The defection comes days after the commander of Syria’s military police Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Jassem al-Shallal defected to Turkey.
 
Al-Shallal is among the most senior members of Assad’s military to defect.
 
Dozens of Syrian generals have defected since the country’s crisis began in March 2011.