- Title: Turkey beefs up military presence on Syrian border amid assault reports
- Date: 4th September 2018
- Summary: HATAY, TURKEY (SEPTEMBER 4, 2018) (REUTERS) MILITARY CONVOY DRIVING ON ROAD VARIOUS OF TANKS ON TRUCKS CONVOY DRIVING TURKISH FLAG ON TANK VARIOUS OF CONVOY TANKS ON TRUCKS
- Embargoed: 18th September 2018 14:32
- Keywords: Turkey military deployment border security tanks Syrian government forces anticipated Idlib offensive
- Location: HATAY, TURKEY
- City: HATAY, TURKEY
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0018W7OBPJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Turkey ramped up its military presence on its southwest border with Syria near rebel stronghold Idlib on Tuesday (September 4) amid reports of a Syrian government offensive in the remaining rebel-held province.
A military convoy is due to reach the border province of Hatay on Tuesday to deploy additional tanks in the area, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. It said more convoys were expected in the coming days.
Turkey has been in talks with Iran and Russia to avoid the offensive. Presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey will meet in Tehran on September 7 for a three-way summit to discuss a possible assault on Idlib which could displace more than 700,000 people according to the United Nations.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has sworn to recapture every inch of Syria and has made big gains against rebels since Russia joined his war effort in 2015.
Last week, a source close to Damascus said the government was preparing a phased offensive to recover Idlib province, but Turkey, whose army has a string of observation posts around the edge of the rebel area, has warned against such an assault.
Turkey, which borders Idlib and has a small military presence there, has warned against such an attack. Ankara fears a major offensive could unleash a new flood of refugees across the Turkish border. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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