US deploys troops to Turkey amid Syria unrest: US General

PressTV

Lieutenant General Mark Phillip Hertling

The commanding general of the US Army Europe (USAREUR) says the Pentagon has recently sent a number of American soldiers to Turkey in a bid to assist Ankara in handling the spillover of the Syrian crisis.

"We have had a relatively few number of US Army Europe personnel in Turkey recently," Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper quoted Lieutenant General Mark Phillip Hertling as saying.

The general added, "Some of that has been sharing intelligence."

Hertling noted that Turkey is concerned about how to handle the humanitarian crisis on its border with Syria.

"It's October. What [Turkey is] very concerned about is the approach of winter, and the way they can address the humanitarian crisis on the border," he pointed out.

If Turkey asks for corporation, American soldiers could be used in evacuation operations, Hertling said. “However, no request has been made yet by Turkey.”

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011.

Damascus says outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists are the driving factor behind the unrest and deadly violence while the opposition accuses the security forces of being behind the killings.

The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country and accuses Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey of arming the opposition.

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