Turkey recalls envoy from Syria's Aleppo

Turkey recalled its envoy in Aleppo on Monday as rebel fighters clashed with loyalist troops in what is Syria's second-largest city, a Turkish diplomat said. Turkey's consul for the northern city of Aleppo, Adnan Kececi, had returned to Turkey to discuss the situation in Syria, the source said. He is expected to return to Aleppo, at a date yet to be determined, and in the meantime the consulate there remains open. Rebels said Sunday the battle for Aleppo had begun and fierce clashes engulfed its Salaheddin and Sakhour districts. Turkey closed its Damascus embassy in March, to send a "strong political message" to the Damascus regime, a diplomatic source said at the time, but also because of the deteriorating security situation there. On Sunday, Turkey sent batteries of ground-to-air missiles to the border with Syria on Sunday. The conflict has destroyed what were once close ties between the two countries, with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan denouncing Syrian President Bashar Assad for the crackdown on the protests. Last month, after the downing of a military jet initially blamed on Damascus, Erdogan warned that it now regarded Syria as a "clear and imminent threat". Syria has in turn accused Turkey of sheltering rebels and training and supplying militants fighting the regime. The conflict, which erupted in March 2011, has now claimed more than 19,000 lives, according to activists.