ISTANBUL – Turkey has sent extra aid workers trained to identify and decontaminate chemical weapons victims to its border with Syria after a poison gas attack in Damascus a week ago which may lead to Western military action. “We have increased our measures significantly since last week, to be prepared particularly in case of a chemical attack,” Mustafa Aydogdu, spokesman for the Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate. “We have experts who could deal with chemical attacks and we have deployed almost all of them in Kilis, Hatay and Sanliurfa,” he said, naming Turkish border cities that house dozens of refugee camps. Turkey, which has a 900 km (560 mile) border with Syria, hosts half a million refugees from the two-and-a-half year conflict and is braced for a new influx should Western powers strike. – Reuters
