Turkey Seizes Arms in Truck Bound for Syria Armed Groups

Local Editor

Turkish security forces have seized a truck laden with weapons bound for Syria and arrested three people including a Syrian, local media reported on Thursday.

Acting on a tipoff, security forces on Wednesday stopped the truck in the southern province of Hatay on the Syrian border, Hurriyet newspaper reported.
A significant quantity of ammunition and weapons were discovered in the truck, whose drivers claimed they were carrying aid on behalf of the pro-Islamic Humanitarian Relief Foundation [IHH].

But IHH dismissed the allegations as "slanderous".

"Our organization has nothing to do with this case," a spokesman for the relief.
In December, local media reported that Turkey had shipped 47 tons of weapons to Syria armed groups since June.

But Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz denied weapons of war had been sent to Syria, saying only hunting rifles had been exported.

Turkey has been accused of turning a blind eye to fighters crossing its border into Syria and supporting them.

This comes as Damascus officially asked the UN Security Council to prosecute Turkey and all countries that support the militants operating in Syria.

In a letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that was released on Monday, Syria's Ambassador to the UN Bashar Ja'afari said that aiding the militants is a blatant violation of the resolutions of the international guiding bodies, including the resolutions of the UN Security Council.

"The Turkish authorities are systematically offering help in supplying arms to terrorists operating in a number of districts" in Syria, he said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team