Top Turkish military officials inspect Syrian border

By Sarp Ozer

HATAY, Turkey (AA) – Turkey’s defense chief and high-level military officials inspected the country’s troops on the Syrian border early Sunday.

Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Guler and commanders of Turkish Land and Air Forces monitored latest developments along the border, according to an Anadolu Agency correspondent at the scene.

Lieut. Gen. Sinan Yayla informed Akar about day-long activities of armed unmanned aerial vehicles, multiple rocket launchers and maneuvering elements.

Late Thursday, at least 34 Turkish soldiers were martyred and dozens of others injured in an airstrike by Bashar al-Assad regime forces in Idlib, a de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria, just across Turkey’s southern border.

Turkish soldiers are working to protect local civilians under a September 2018 deal with Russia, which prohibits acts of aggression in the Idlib de-escalation zone.

But more than 1,300 civilians have since been killed in attacks by Assad and Russian forces in the zone, as the cease-fire continues to be violated.

* Writing by Gozde Bayar