Summary A 20-vehicle convoy with a tank contingent was deployed to the border area of Yayladagi.
ANKARA (AFP) - Turkey has beefed up a military presence along its southern border with Syria in anticipation of strikes on the regime in Damascus, local media reported Thursday.
A 20-vehicle convoy with a tank contingent was deployed to the border area of Yayladagi in Hatay province on Wednesday, and was followed by 15 more vehicles Thursday, Turkish news agency Dogan reported.
Syria s northwestern border with Turkey is one of the few areas on the frontier still in the hands of President Bashar al-Assad, according to the agency.
The move is just the latest in a series of reinforcements deployed by the Turkish army to the 900-km (560-mile) long border with the war-torn country.
State-run news agency Anatolia said an already enlarged troop presence on the southern border would also be reinforced.
Tanks and heavy artillery were moved to the border in early 2012, a few months into the conflict, and NATO Patriot missiles have also been deployed to the area, which would be used in the event of a green light for strikes.
Turkey, a NATO member that broke off a previously warm relationship with Syria, is home to more than 500,000 Syrian refugees who have fled a civil conflict that is now well into its third year.
Ankara supports a multilateral intervention against the country after an August 21 chemical attack near Damascus that left hundreds dead, which the West has accused Assad s regime of perpetrating.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated Tuesday that his country would support any coalition willing to intervene against the Syrian regime.
