Syrian rebel commander takes refuge in Turkey

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

(Reuters) - The highest-ranking officer to defect from Syria's armed forces said on Tuesday he had taken refuge in Turkey, denying claims that he had been arrested when Syrian troops overran a rebel stronghold, state-run Anatolian news agency said.

"We live in a safe place in Turkey, I am grateful to the government and people of Turkey. Turkish officials cared about us," Colonel Riad al-Asaad said in an interview datelined Hatay in southern Turkey.

Armed resistance to President Bashar al-Assad's rule has emerged in recent weeks, six months into a pro-democracy uprising that government forces have tried to crush with violent tactics.

"All of my needs are being met by Turkish officials," said Asaad, who has emerged as commander of the rebel Syrian Free Army. "The opposition forces in Syria must unite and strengthen their stand until the regime is demolished."

The rebel colonel's presence in Hatay, now home to several thousand Syrian refugees, will add to tensions between Ankara and Damascus.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan plans to visit Hatay soon and is expected to announce sanctions against Syria after having failed to convince his former friend President Assad to halt attacks on civilians and make urgent political reforms.

Speaking to Reuters from the Syrian-Turkish border on Friday, Colonel Asaad said more than 10,000 soldiers had deserted the Syrian army and were attacking security forces.

The 50-year-old Air Force officer, who comes from Idlib, a northwest Syrian province bordering Turkey, said Syrian state media were issuing false reports to undermine morale.

"The Syrian regime conducted a brutal operation in Rastan region near Homs city in order to find and arrest me. They claimed that they arrested me at the end of the operation," Asaad said. "Such stories aim to demoralize the Syrian people."

Last week, government troops and security personnel, backed by helicopters and tanks, attacked Rastan, where hundreds of insurgents had taken refuge.

Activists in the Rastan area said rebel operations in the area were being led by the Free Officers Movement, which allied with the Syrian Free Army late last month.

Command of Syria's mostly Sunni military is in the hands of officers from President Assad's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam that also dominates the security apparatus and the ruling elite in the majority Sunni country.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/04/us-syria-turkey-military-idUSTRE7932JF20111004

ISTANBUL—Turkey said on Tuesday it would hold military exercises close to the Syrian border and that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would disclose steps to be taken against Damascus when he visits refugee camps in the area in the coming days.

The moves came as Col. Riad al As'ad, a former Syrian military officer, reported to have been detained by Turkey and handed over to Damascus, surfaced in Turkey and denied the reports.

The Turkish armed forces said on its website Tuesday that it would begin military exercises in Hatay province, close to the Syrian border, from Oct. 5 to Oct. 13. The exercise would involve a mechanized brigade and some 700 reservists and was routine, the website said.

"We cannot remain spectators to developments in Syria any longer. There are serious deaths and (attacks) against innocent, oppressed people," Mr. Erdoğan told reporters during a visit to South Africa on Tuesday, according to Turkey's state news agency, Anadolu Ajansi.

Mr. Erdoğan expressed Turkey's support for a draft resolution on Syria at the United Nations Security Council, due to be voted on later Tuesday. He also said he would visit camps in Hatay where some 7,500 Syrians have taken refuge from turmoil across the border, either this weekend or next week.

"Then we will make our assessment as Turkey and make a statement," Mr. Erdoğan said, according to Anadolu. A Turkish official said it remained uncertain whether that would involve sanctions.

Turkish officials feel under pressure to act, given the lack of further options available to governments in the U.S. and Europe. Ankara already started enforcing an arms embargo, but has been reluctant to impose economic sanctions that might harm primarily Turkish and Syrian businessmen, rather than the regime of President Bashar Al Asad. Turkey exported $1 billion worth of goods to Syria in the first six months of the year, slightly up on the same period last year despite the turmoil, according to figures from the Turkish Exporters' Assembly.

Turkey's government had exceptionally warm relations with the Assad regime—the Erdoğan and Assad families even went on vacation together in 2008—but relations turned sour this year when Mr. Assad ignored Turkish pressure to end the crackdown on opponents and institute reforms.

Col. As'ad, who defected and fled to Turkey about three months ago, leads Syria's main military defectors group, the Free Syrian Army, after merging it with another dissident army group last month, according to Omar Idlibi, a spokesperson for activist network the Local Coordination Committees.

Col. As'ad combined his group with the Free Officers Movement, led by Col. Hussein Harmoush and based in Turkey along the Syrian border. That group was dealt a serious setback in September when Col. Harmoush appeared on Syrian state television, appearing to confess that his movement didn't actually exist.

Activists say they believe he was either tricked back into Syria by covert intelligence officers, where he was captured by forces there, or handed over by Turkish authorities.

"We did not hand over anyone," said a spokesman for the Turkish foreign ministry. He said the rumors had begun in the Syrian press when Col. As'ad became ill and was taken from his refugee camp to hospital in an ambulance, accompanied by Turkish health officials.

Col. As'ad said Tuesday that he was living unmolested in Turkey, according to Anadolu. "Turkish authorities have not applied any pressure or violence on us," he told the agency.

Army defectors have multiplied in recent weeks and are increasingly claiming responsibility for attacks on security forces. Last week, activists said defectors in al-Rastan, a town north of Homs, destroyed about a dozen tanks. Dissident soldiers, mostly low-ranking Sunni conscripts, say they are keeping their light weapons with them and urging other soldiers to defect to protect civilians. There haven't yet been any announced defections from higher-ranking Alawite soldiers, who form the military's backbone and are Assad loyalists.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204524604576610781937462842.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Looks like Turkey may soon be America's best friend in the Middle East.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Ya Turkey's a real winner. Not only is Turkey putting the screws to Cyprus, that article points out that the president of Turkey along with his family went on vacation with the Assad family three years back. The same Assad family who not only is and has been a repressive dictatorship, but supply's terrorist organizations along with Iran such as Hamas and Hezbollah when it isn't busy assassinating the presidents of Lebanon.

I'm pretty sure the US knows the Turkish government for what it actually is. A supporter of dictators and a pain in the ####### for the European Union.

[The_Dude 1,142]

But, Turkey is a secular nation, so by default more palatable to the west.