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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
More Syria officers, soldiers and families defect to Turkey
2012-11-19
[Asharq-E] A Syrian general and a dozen other officers defected with their families to Turkey on Friday, Turkey's state-run news agency
...and if you can't believe the state-run news agency who can you believe?...
reported, following heavy fighting
... as opposed to the more usual light or desultory fighting...
on Turkey's southeastern border with Syria.

Ankara said on Friday it had "intensified" talks with its NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
allies on steps to shore up security on the 900 km (560 mile) frontier with the 20-month civil war in Syria at stalemate.

State-run Anatolian agency said 53 people had crossed the border - one general, 12 other officers and an unspecified number of soldiers and their families.

They crossed into Turkey's southern Hatay province and were sent by local authorities to the Apaydin refugee camp, Today's Zaman newspaper reported on its website.

A foreign ministry official could not immediately confirm the report. It follows the reported defection on Nov. 9 of 26 military officers, including two generals.

With winter setting in, dozens of Syrian military officers are holed up in Turkish camps, along with about 120,000 civilian refugees.
Posted by:Fred

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