In its report on what would be the largest single-day exodus from the army of Syrian
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
, the Turkish Anatolia news agency said 14 generals have abandoned their battle-torn homeland since an uprising began in March 2011.
High-level defections had been relatively rare in the early months of the conflict, attesting to the cohesion of Assad's inner circle, which is made up of members of the country's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. The majority of Syrians are Sunni Mohammedans.
But Syrian army attrition has escalated in recent weeks, markedly after Assad's forces shot down a Turkish jet on June 22 that Damascus
...The
City of Jasminis the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
said had violated Syrian airspace. Ankara insists the plane was downed over international waters, and has stepped up air patrols of its tense, southern border. Another general and 33 other troops crossed over to Turkey during the weekend that followed the plane incident. And on June 21, a Syrian fighter pilot flew his MIG-21 war plane to Jordan and asked for asylum.