Israel's concern over Syrian- Turkish closeness

The Turkish daily al-Zamaan ( Times) said that the Syrian - Turkish closeness has become a source for Israeli concern on the ground of the visit to be held by the Syrian army chief of staff Hassan al-Turkmani to Turkey next week.

The paper said that the new phase of bilateral relations is witnessing reciprocated visits to discuss fields of cooperation between the two countries. The paper added, besides the two countries' military officials agreed to dismantle mines implanted along their joint borders during the five coming years.

To this effect, the Turkish Ikhlas news agency said that the visit of Turkmani to Turkey is considered a new phase in the Syrian- Turkish relations, noting it is the first for a high ranking Syrian military official since the signing of the Adanah agreement in 1990.