The Turkish military launched a 10-day exercise at a base near the border with Syria on Monday, where fears of a spillover of violence and of the fallout of any chemical weapons use have escalated in recent weeks.
The exercise at Incirlik, a NATO air base outside the city of Adana where U.S. troops are also stationed, will test the military's readiness for battle and coordination with government ministries, the general staff said in a statement.
While the exercise in Adana province, some 100 km (60 miles) from the border, was described by NATO's second-biggest military as "planned", it comes at a time of heightened tension.
Turkey is sheltering nearly 400,000 refugees from Syria's more than two-year conflict, has become one of President Bashar al-Assad's most vocal critics and has scrambled war planes along the border as stray gunfire and shelling hit its soil.
A Turkish border guard was killed and six others wounded last week in a clash with armed men at a border crossing along the 900 km frontier.
FOR MORE NEXT MEDIA ANIMATION, GO TO: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=NMAWorldEdition
FOR MORE NEXT MEDIA ANIMATION IN ENGLISH, GO TO: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=NMAtv
FOR MORE TOMONEWS US, GO TO:
http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TomoNewsUS
FOR MORE TOMONEWS JP, GO TO: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TomoNewsJP
FOR MORE APPLE DAILY ENGLISH, GO TO: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=AppleDailyEnglish
CHECK OUT THE ODDBODS!
http://www.youtube.com/user/nxTomo
