Large shipment of arms seized at Syria-Turkey borders

Large shipment of arms seized at Syria-Turkey borders
Thu Jan 2, 2014 16:44:54

Large shipments of weapons have been seized by Turkish security forces in an area on the Syrian border, media reports say.

Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper reported on Thursday that the security forces confiscated a Syria-bound truck carrying a significant quantity of ammunition and weapons in the southern province of Hatay.

The report said that three people were arrested in this regard. They claimed that they were carrying aid on behalf of IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation. The Turkish NGO, however, has rejected the allegations and called them “slanderous.”

“Our organization has nothing to do with this case,” said a spokesman for the relief organization.

In November, Turkish security forces confiscated a truck carrying nearly 1,000 rocket heads in the southern city of Adana near the Syrian border.

Also in November, Turkey’s army seized a large quantity of chemicals near the southeastern Turkish town of Reyhanli on the country’s border with Syria.

Turkey has been widely criticized by the Syrian government for letting its borders open to militants for smuggling arms and forces to Syria which has been gripped by a foreign-charged war for nearly three years.

The Ankara government is one of the strongest supporters of the insurgency that aims to topple the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

SHI/SHI

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