33 Syrian officers and troops defect to Turkey

06/25/12: Al Jazeera reports thirty-three members of the Syrian military have defected to Turkey with their families at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries over Syria’s downing of a Turkish plane.  The Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency said on Monday that the group, which includes a general and two colonels, crossed into Turkey overnight and that they were being hosted at a refugee camp near the border.  The defection brought to thirteen the number of generals seeking refuge in Turkey since the revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime erupted sixteen months ago.  Thousands of soldiers have abandoned the army, but most are low-level conscripts.  The Free Syrian Army, the loosely-linked group of rebel forces, is made up largely of defectors.