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In Slap at Syria, Turkey Shelters Anti-Assad Fighters
(New York Times) Liam Stack - Once one of Syria's closest allies, Turkey is hosting an armed opposition group waging an insurgency against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, providing shelter to the commander and dozens of members of the Free Syrian Army, a militia composed of defectors from the Syrian armed forces, and allowing them to orchestrate attacks across the border from inside a camp guarded by the Turkish military. Turkish officials describe their relationship with the group's commander, Col. Riad al-As'aad, and the 60 to 70 members living in the "officers' camp" as purely humanitarian. Turkey is expected to impose sanctions soon on Syria, and it has deepened its support for an umbrella political opposition group, the Syrian National Council, which announced its formation in Istanbul.