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Turkey did not train Syrian army defectors: president

09 May 2012 18:11 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Turkish President Abdullah Gul rejected allegations that Syrian army defectors were trained in Turkey, the country’s semi-official Anatolia news agency reported on Wednesday, APA reports quoting .

There were soldiers among people who fled to Turkey, however, it was out of the question for Turkey to train them, Gul was quoted as saying.

Gul meanwhile expressed concern that further escalation of violence in Syria would force larger numbers of Syrians to flee into Turkey, which already shelters nearly 24,000 Syrian refugees in southern provinces.

"If things go much worse, there can be a massive influx of migrants, which we had endured in the past when the first war in Iraq sent 500,000 people just over a night," Gul said.

Turkey supports joint envoy Kofi Annan’s plan to stop violence in Syria, Gul said, adding that the plan could only be a remedy if it was implemented in its entirety.

Turkey, once a close ally of Syria, has imposed on Syria a series of sanctions, including an arms embargo, due to its alleged crackdown on anti-government protesters.