Turkey, which has adhered to an "open border" policy for the Syrian opposition forces since the eruption of the civil war in Syria, has finally started to take some visible measures along its border after accusations of being the “country that allows passage to al-Qaeda." One of those measures is the wall being erected at Nusaybin. This barrier, already labeled “the wall of shame," is actually targeting not al-Qaeda, but the Kurds who are fighting Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham. Another measure of note has been the increasing control of border crossings by the Turkish army.

Chemicals seized but suspect released

Although the government is saying it is not helping al-Qaeda, it is a bit early yet to talk of a drastic move such as cutting assistance to opposition groups. At least the Turkish military command’s announcements on its website show that the military is taking some concrete steps. Although most of the announcements are about intervening in massive smuggling operations involving hundreds of smugglers and escalating fire on Turkish military vehicles out on intensified patrols, information about a Nov. 2 incident was particularly critical.

The Turkish army had seized some chemicals being smuggled into Syria from Hatay. According to the military command's announcement, military units forcibly stopped three vehicles that ignored instructions to halt by firing at their tires as they attempted to cross into Syria from Narlica township in Hatay province. Twenty sacks, each filled with 50 kilograms of sulfur, and eight barrels with sealed lids were found in the vehicles. The sealed barrels were sent to the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear teams of the Disasters and Emergencies Directorate. Most of the occupants of the vehicles escaped to Syria on foot, but one was apprehended. "SH," a French national with Bosnia-Herzegovina citizenship, said he had nothing to do with the seized supplies and was released pending trial. Cahit Dogan, the press adviser of the Hatay provincial government, responded to an Al-Monitor question about the fate of the chemicals with, “We don’t yet have information about that.”