U.S. Wants Turkey To Close Its Borders With Syria

Turkish (L) and Syrian Independence flags are seen between the border gates Akcakale of Turkey and Tel Abyad of Syria, in Akcakale, southern Sanliurfa province, October 4, 2012. Reuters

WSJ: U.S. Urges Turkey to Seal Border

A bigger Turkish border deployment would close off key transit routes for ISIS fighters in Syria, U.S. officials say

The Obama administration is pressing Turkey to deploy thousands of additional troops along its border with Syria to cordon off a 60-mile stretch of frontier that U.S. officials say is used by Islamic State to move foreign fighters in and out of the war zone.

The U.S. hasn’t officially requested a specific number of soldiers. Pentagon officials estimated that it could take as many as 30,000 to seal the border on the Turkish side for a broader humanitarian mission. Cordoning off just one section alone could take 10,000 or more, one official estimated.

It’s unclear how Turkey will respond. Turkish officials said they agree that tighter border control is necessary, and have begun implementing some measures. They suggested that the Pentagon troop estimates are inflated, but declined to give a number of their own.

Update: US urges Turkey to close off its Syrian border to ISIS - media (RT)

WNU Editor: Closing the border is not gong to happen .... it appears that Turkey has a different agenda .... Syria army says Turkey increases arms shipments to rebels (Reuters).