Turkey has sent more military supplies to the southeastern province of Mardin, near the Syrian border, as Ankara continues to strengthen its military presence in the area.
According to Turkish sources, a convoy of 40 trucks carrying military supplies and armored vehicles left the Turkish city of Diyarbakir for a buffer zone on the Turkish soil near the Syrian border on Monday.
The source claimed that the deployment aims at preventing the Syrian unrest spilling over the border into Turkey.
It is the first time that Turkish sources speak about the creation of a buffer zone along Syria-Turkey border.
Since the beginning of unrest in Syria, Turkey has conducted several war games near its border with Syria and has reinforced its border troops with tanks, missile launchers and armored combat vehicles.
Ankara has also deployed new air defense systems along its border with Syria.
Turkey has as well set up a military-security base at Sazgin Airport in Qazi Antep province, which is 180 kilometers away from the Syrian city of Aleppo. Military transportation planes, air defense systems and radar equipment have been deployed to the base.
Sazgin Airport was used for the transfer of troops and ammunition during the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Turkey, along with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, has set up a secret base in the southern Turkish city of Adana, about one hundred kilometers from Syria’s border, to send military supplies to anti-Damascus groups.
