Officials say Syria has asked Turkey for defense support amid sectarian clashes

ANKARA Turkey AP Syria s interim administration has requested Turkey s promotion to strengthen its defense capabilities Turkish representatives commented following sectarian violence over the past two weeks that increased tensions in Syria and drew intervention by Israel The defense ministry administrators who spoke on condition of anonymity according to procedures revealed Wednesday that Syria has also sought assistance to combat terrorist organizations including the Islamic State group Turkey which has long expressed readiness to assist Syria was working toward providing training advisory services and technical encouragement to help strengthen Syria s defense ceiling the personnel added Syrian executives could not be directly reached for comment Source