Turkey Send Tanks to Syria Border, Threatens Attacks

Clashes on Outskirts of Damascus as Rebels Escalate Fighting

The Turkish military has deployed tanks to its border with Syria today, and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that Syria is a “clear and present threat” to the Turkish government’s security, vowing attacks on any Syrian troops that are perceived as being too close to their mutual border.

The threat comes by way of retaliation against Syria for shooting down a Turkish warplane that had violated Syrian airspace and was speeding toward Latakia Province. Syria insists they didn’t know what the warplane was when they fired at it.

The threat of attacks along the border is very real, as Turkey has allowed the Free Syrian Army to base itself out of Turkish territory and Syria’s military has been bolstering border patrols in an attempt to keep rebels entering the country with impunity.

Beyond the threat of Turkish (and by extension NATO) attacks on Syria, fighting is escalating inside the country, with rebels launching attacks on the outskirts of the capital city of Damascus today, and Bashar Assad terming the situation a  “real state of war from all angles.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.