Further defections in the Syrian army

A general and several army officers have deserted the Syrian army to seek refuge in Turkey

One general, two colonels, several officers and thirty three soldiers have deserted the Syrian army and have arrived in Turkey according to CNN-Turk.

These defections add to the thirteen Syrian army generals who arrived on Turkish soil just a few days back. The general, whose identity or role has not been specified yet, arrived in Turkey in the province of Hatay in the company of soliders and their families
which total a group of 196 people including many women and children.

Refugee camps in the Turkish provinces of Hatay, Kilis, Gaziantep and Sanliurfa are already hosting 33,079 Syrians who fled the country.

Tensions between Turkey and Syria have gone to an all-time high after the Syrian forces brought down a Phantom F-4 a few days ago. Turkish foreign ministry claims that the jet was flying in international airspace and blasted Syria for defying all military
protocols.

On Monday, the Turkish government held a meeting in Ankara and called on NATO to adopt a position with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

Turkey, which was once an ally of Syria in its political and economic development, has severed ties with the current regime in the light of Bashar Al-Assad’s repression of opposition movements in the country.

Meanwhile, Organisation of Islamic Corporation, the OIC, has warned of the risk of wider conflict in the future if the situation in Syria does not improve. OIC fears that the situation will eventually lead to a civil war and that the effects of this will
affect the whole region.

“The OIC has taken care not to interfere in the affairs of a member state. But the deteriorating security situation, repression and deaths of thousands of children and women have internationalised the crisis,” said Turkish member of OIC, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu.

The meeting of the Executive Committee, composed of seven of the 27 members of the OIC, was to be devoted to consideration of the Syrian crisis and problems in Sudan and African Sahel.

All delegates were invited to participate including Syria and Iran, who unsuccessfully tried to block discussions about the Syrian crisis.

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Posted by Taimoor Tariq on Jun 25 2012. Filed under Middle East. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry