Turkish army staged military exercises with tanks near the Turkish-Syrian border 0208124

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Defense News - Turkey
 
 
Thursday, August 2, 2012, 11:11 AM
 
Turkish army staged military exercises with tanks near the Turkish-Syrian border.
Turkish army staged tank exercises near the Turkish-Syrian border on Wednesday, August 2, 2012, after some border districts of northern Syria fell into the hands of Kurds, local newspaper Today's Zaman reported on its website. The exercises were held after a series of Turkish military deployments to the area.
     
Turkish military staged tank exercises near the Turkish-Syrian border on Wednesday, August 2, 2012, after some border districts of northern Syria fell into the hands of Kurds, local newspaper Today's Zaman reported on its website. The exercises were held after a series of Turkish military deployments to the area.
A Turkish military convoy with M60 tanks and armoured personnel carrier stops for a moment while travelling to the border between Turkey and Syria, near the southeastern Turkish city of Kilis July 30, 2012.
     

Some 25 tanks from the Mardin 70th Mechanised Brigade took part in the exercises, which were overseen by commanders in the Nusaybin district of Mardin province just near the Syrian border, the report said.

Some PKK members have crossed from Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq to northern Syria, Turkey's Hurriyet Daily News quoted Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as saying on Tuesday.

The Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria, which is affiliated with the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), has taken control of Syrian cities of Efrin, Kobane and Amude near southern Turkey.

The PKK and the PYD in Syria have "now turned into a terror activity" for Turkey, said the Turkish foreign minister.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, took up arms in 1984 in an attempt to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. Since then over 40,000 people have been killed in conflicts involving the group.

Turkey, once a close ally to Syria, has imposed a series of sanctions, including an arms embargo, on the unrest-torn country due to its alleged crackdown on anti-government protesters. The Turkey-Syria relations strained further after Syria shot down a Turkish military jet, which crashed into the Mediterranean Sea in June.