Turkey to offer military training to Syria if new administration requests
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler has expressed his country’s readiness for further cooperation with Syria’s new administration, saying it will provide military training to the Arab country if such help is requested.
Guler made the remarks at a news briefing in Ankara on Sunday, stressing that the new government should be allowed to prove itself given its constructive messages.
"In their first statement, the new administration announced that it would respect all government institutions, the United Nations, and other international organizations," Guler said.
"We think that we need to see what the new administration will do and to give them a chance," he added.
When asked whether Ankara was considering military cooperation with Syria, Guler said Turkey already has cooperation agreements with many countries and is ready to provide support if the new administration requests.
The Turkish defense minister further emphasized that Ankara’s top priority is the dismantling of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militant group, which it accuses of being aligned with the homegrown Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), adding that it has made this clear to the United States.
"In the new era, the PKK/YPG terrorist organization will be dismantled in Syria sooner or later. Both the new administration in Syria and we want this," Guler said.
He also reiterated that Turkey’s main goal is to preserve Syria's territorial integrity and unity, to complete the political process peacefully, and to rid the country’s border areas of terrorist elements.
Armed militants, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), took control of Damascus on December 8 and declared an end to President Bashar al-Assad’s rule in a surprise offensive that was launched from their stronghold in northwestern Syria, reaching the capital in less than two weeks.
Turkey, which shares a 911-kilometer- (566-mile-) long frontier with Syria, has been a main backer of opposition groups aiming to topple Assad since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011.
While Turkish officials have strongly rejected claims of any involvement, observers believe that the offensive, which appears to be aligned with Turkey’s long-time goals, could not have gone ahead without Ankara’s consent.
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