Special to WorldTribune.com

ANKARA — Turkey has seized a large quantity of suspected chemical weapons precursors.

Officials said Turkish border forces intercepted the chemicals from a
convoy that sought to infiltrate from neighboring Syria. They said the
chemicals, including sulfur, could be used in CW development.

“They could be transformed into weapons,” the Turkish General Staff said.

In a statement on Nov. 3, the military said three vehicles were stopped as they sought to cross the Turkish border during the previous day. The
statement said border forces opened fire and the drivers fled toward Syria. One driver was said to have been captured.

“Do not be surprised if a statement suggesting that the arrested person is a Syrian spy comes from the government,” Turkey’s opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP deputy chairman Faruk Logoglu said.

The Turkish military said authorities also found an unidentified
substance in the Syrian convoy. The statement said the substance was being
examined.

Officials acknowledged that the 900-kilometer Syrian-Turkish border has
been used by Al Qaida-aligned militias, including Islamic State of Iraq and
Levant as well as the Nusra Front for the Defense of the Levant. In May
2013, authorities arrested a Syrian and five Turkish nationals in the
southeastern city of Adana on suspicion of trying to acquire CW precursors.

The military said 20 bags of sulfur, weighing 50 kilograms each and used
in mustard gas, were seized in the latest convoy near the Turkish town of
Reyhanli. Another eight barrels of an unidentified substance were also
confiscated.

On Oct. 31, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
reported the end of inspections of Syrian CW sites. The organization said
Syria’s entire declared stock of 290 tons of CW and 1,000 tons of precursors
have been secured.

  20 bags of sulfur, Frank Logoglu, Nusra Front, Reyhanli, Turkey seizes convoy said to be transporting CW materials from Syria