Defense minister: Turkish army not to wait for government’s instructions for military operations in Syria

Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 14 / Trend R. Hafizoglu / The Turkish army will not wait for instructions from the government to launch military actions in Syria, Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz said today. The Turkish army has been placed on a high state of readiness. The Turkish army will start the military operations in case of the incidents from the Syrian side, the minister was quoted today by Time Turk newspaper as saying. Earlier it was reported that Turkey evacuates residents of three Turkish villages situated in the border with Syria. The Syrian Air Force has been bombing and shelling the border areas with Turkey, where the armed opposition groups are placed, for the second day. As a result, the artillery shells are falling daily on the Turkish territory. The Turkish army opens fire. The relations between Ankara and Damas deteriorated after Turkey opened fire on the Syrian territory on October 3 in response to the incident at the border with Syria. A Syrian missile hit a residential house killing five and wounding 10 Turkish citizens. NATO and UN urged Syria to immediately cease all acts of aggression against Turkey. The Turkish parliament has provided Erdogan's government with a one-year mandate on trans-border operations against Syria. Anti-government protests have continued in Syria for a year and half. According to UN, the total number of victims of the conflict in Syria is nearing 30,000. Over 230,000 have become refugees with around three million in need of humanitarian assistance. The Syrian authorities say they oppose the well-armed militants. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az