TURKEY: A member of the Syrian opposition predicts there will be an increase in military defections, after a Syrian air force pilot flew his MiG-21 fighter plane over the border to Jordan and was granted political asylum

Record ID: 281098

  • Title: TURKEY: A member of the Syrian opposition predicts there will be an increase in military defections, after a Syrian air force pilot flew his MiG-21 fighter plane over the border to Jordan and was granted political asylum
  • Date: 23rd June 2012
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JUNE 22, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SYRIAN OPPOSITION MEMBER HAITHAM AL-MALEH TALKING TO REPORTERS CAMERAMAN FILMING (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYRIAN OPPOSITION MEMBER, HAITHAM AL-MALEH, SAYING: "This example shows us how the army is not with the regime. As I see in the future we will have hundreds of thousands - now we have about 40,000 parting with the
  • Embargoed: 8th July 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8QKDI70N80AGVKA6AVQSA5ZK0
  • Story Text: A veteran opposition figure said on Friday (June 22) he expected an influx in military defections after a Syrian air force pilot flew his MiG-21 fighter plane over the border to Jordan and was granted political asylum.
    Colonel Hassan Hamada landed at the King Hussein military air base 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Amman on Thursday (June 21) and immediately asked for sanctuary, Jordanian officials told Reuters.
    Syria's Defense Ministry called the pilot a "traitor to his country and his military honour" saying it would punish Hamada under military law and was in contact with Jordan to retrieve the aircraft.
    But Hamada's defection was only the beginning of a mass exodus from the army, said human rights lawyer and member of the Syrian opposition Haitham al-Maleh.
    "This example shows us how the army is not with the regime. As I see in the future we will have hundreds of thousands - now we have about 40,000 parting with the army but (the number) will reach about 100,000 - leaving the army and uniting with the people to fight against this bad regime," al-Maleh said on Friday in Istanbul.
    Thousands of soldiers have deserted in the 15 months since the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad broke out, and they now form the backbone of the rebel army. But unlike last year's uprisings in Libya and Yemen, no members of Assad's inner circle have broken with him.
    Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Selcuk Unal confirmed there was a rise in the number of defected military generals in Turkey.
    "As of this morning 32,750 Syrians are lodged in Turkey. Military defections are also on rise. The number of defected (military) generals in Turkey rose to 12. Such developments show the gravity of the situation in Syria," he said at a news conference in Ankara on Friday.
    The defection will boost the morale of the rebels, as Assad's forces intensify efforts to crush the uprising and international peace efforts are stalled.
    Assad, a member of Syria's Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, has sent tanks across the country to put down the mostly Sunni-led uprising, which started with peaceful demonstrations and was later coupled with an armed insurgency against his rule that's began in 2000, when he inherited power from his late father.
    The United Nations says more than 10,000 people have been killed by Assad's forces during the conflict. The government says at least 2,600 members of the military and security forces have been killed by what it characterises as a plot by foreign-backed "Islamist terrorists" to bring it down.
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