On September 2, the Turkish military deployed several M60T battle tanks, which had been upgraded by the Turkish ASELSAN company, in the southern province of Hatay, according to the Turkish Anadolu Agency. The stat-run news agency said that these battle tanks will be stationed in several posts on the Syrian-Turkish border.
Turkish military has sent modernized M60 Firat tanks to Hatay province on the Syrian border to Idlib, where Assad wants to attack HTS. pic.twitter.com/r0QfVnLHev
— Ali Özkök – علي أزكوك (@Ozkok_) September 2, 2018
Two weeks ago, the Turkish military deployed similar battle tanks in the in the southern town of Yayladağı, which is located north of the Turkmen mount in Syria’s northern Lattakia.
Some Syrian opposition activists said that the deployment of these battle tanks along the border is aimed at preventing the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies from launching an offensive on the opposition-held areas in northern Syria.
However, other sources believe that Turkey is simply reinforcing its border ahead of the upcoming offensive to stop any unwanted refugees. The Jordanian military took similar procedures before the SAA’s military operation in southern Syria.
