Erdoğan convenes security summit amidst intensifying clashes in Syria

The two-hour-long summit was held at the Prime Ministry on Wednesday afternoon with the attendance of Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay, Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel, Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin, Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz, Gendarmerie Commander Bekir Kalyoncu and National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Undersecretary Hakan Fidan.

A statement released by the Prime Ministry stated that government officials convened to discuss security issues in the country and in neighboring countries. The statement added that summit participants discussed the latest developments in Syria as well as activities of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in both Turkey and neighboring countries.

A day after Turkey recalled its consul general in Aleppo, clashes between the Syrian regime and opposition fighters raged in Aleppo. The Britain-based Syria Observatory reported heavy fighting at dawn in the northeastern neighborhoods of the city, including Sakhour and Hanano, which had been bombarded by government forces.

Aleppo, Syria's most populous city with about 3 million residents, has been the focus of an assault by a newly formed alliance of opposition forces called the Brigade of Unification. The group said on Sunday that it was launching an operation to take the city. Much of the fighting in the large city has been confined to neighborhoods in the northwest.