"Turkey urges stronger stance against Syria after US accusations of chemical weapon use"

Turkey says a U.S. announcement that it has conclusive evidence the Syrian regime used chemical weapons against opposition forces corroborates its own findings and is urging the international community to take a decisive stance against the regime's "atrocity." A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement released Friday calls on the international community to "unite and openly manifest its stance" against Syrian President Bashar Assad. It stated the regime's attacks must be halted and a "democratic transition process" must start in Syria.

Asked about the U.S. assertions, Turkish President Abdullah Gül said:

“These are very serious assessments. Using chemical weapons is like a small nuclear weapon. The dimension of this is very dangerous. We know what has been experienced in Halabja [in 1988]. I am sure all diplomats and analysts are evaluating these claims. If this finding has been proved precisely, then it is certain that all things will enter another phase.”

Turkey has said preliminary tests on some injured Syrians indicated that chemical weapons had been used.

The Syrian rebels will ask Western countries for weapons, a no fly zone, and to push Russia to remove Iranian and Hezbollah fighters inside Syria, at a meeting to be held in Istanbul at the weekend. The meeting will come ahead of next week’s G-8 meeting, where the Syrian crisis will top the agenda. Western officials will meet the commander of the Syrian armed opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA), Salim Idris, on June 15 in Turkey to discuss new aid, diplomats said.

Mossad director Tamir Pardo met secretly with the Turkish National Intelligence Organization's head, Hakan Fidan, this week in Ankara and discussed matters related to Syria and Iran, the Istanbul-based newspaper Hürriyet reported on Wednesday. [...]  Fidan and Pardo shared information about the situation in Syria as well as the influence of Iran in the country. It was further reported that sources claimed to have information that Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Syrian intelligence are working against Turkey. The two men also discussed intelligence sharing between their countries.

excerpt from:   Assad massacres worse than his father's, Turkey PM says

AFP, 4 June 2013

On Thursday, 13 June 2013, Headquarters Allied Force Command Madrid (HQ FC MD) held a ceremony to mark its deactivation. This deactivation is a part of a major reform process in NATO’s Command Structure to make it more efficient, flexible, and responsive. Responsibility for the readiness and support of Land Operations will transfer to Allied Land Command in Izmir, Turkey.