Turkey To Tighten Arms Embargo Against Syria

28 Sep 2011 By BURAK EGE BEKDIL and UMIT ENGINSOY DefenseNews

ANKARA - Turkey's diplomatic and military establishments are preparing for a full crackdown on any arms shipments to Syria, the country's top regional ally until recently.

A senior defense official said the Defense Ministry and Foreign Ministry will work together to tighten controls over air and land shipments into Syria via Turkish soil.

"We won't tolerate any arms shipments into Syria via our airspace or land," the official said.

Last week, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey will intercept arms shipments transiting Turkey for Syria, and officials confirmed Turkey will close its airspace to Syria.

In the past, the neighbors conducted joint military exercises, and at the height of their friendship they even held joint Cabinet meetings.

But cracks appeared between Ankara and Damascus as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad repeatedly ignored calls from Turkey and the international community to end his repression of anti-government protests, and as Ankara sided with popular sentiment in Arab uprisings throughout the region.

A Turkish diplomat said new sanctions against Syria that could be announced soon "will be in line with or complementary to planned U.S. and European sanctions."

Turkey is Syria's largest trading partner, and there had been plans to open eight new border gates between the countries. Bilateral trade was worth $2.5 billion in 2010, and investments by Turkish firms in Syria reached $260 million.

While the U.S. and EU gradually imposed sanctions against Damascus, Turkey until recently had hoped it could persuade Assad to change, driven in part by concerns for protecting its business interests.

Speaking to journalists in New York last week after meeting U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Erdogan said Ankara and Washington, having fallen out of step on sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, were now working together on sanctions against Syria.

Turkey's decision to host a NATO radar system has also pleased Washington and its allies, while angering Iran, the top regional power that backs Assad's regime.