Turkey Signs Military Accord With Syrian Government

Latest Developments

Military Memorandum Signed: Turkey’s Ministry of Defense has announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Syria for the training of Syrian troops and military consultancy. Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qusra and Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler signed the agreement after a Syrian delegation led by Abu Qusra visited Ankara. According to the state-owned Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), the “joint military agreement between the two countries aims to improve the capabilities of the Syrian Army, develop its institutions, structure, and reform the security apparatus comprehensively.”
MOU Signed After Damascus Request: In July, the Syrian government requested “official support from Türkiye to strengthen its defense capacity and combat terror groups” after deadly sectarian violence erupted between government forces, Arab Sunni tribes, and Druze factions in southern Syria, focused around the Suwayda region. Previously, Turkey had also considered deploying troops and military aircraft at an airbase in Syria, but the Israeli Air Force targeted the base in April.
Turkey Says Israel, Kurds Destabilizing Syria: In tandem with the new military accord, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on August 13 that Israel and the Kurdish-led SDF have “fueled certain difficulties” in Syria and warned specifically that Israel’s security “cannot be achieved through undermining the security of [its] neighbors.” Fidan also accused the SDF of trying to turn recent violence in Syria into an “opportunity for themselves.” On August 8, hundreds of representatives of Syria’s ethnic and religious groups called for a decentralized state and the drafting of a new Syrian constitution during a meeting in the SDF-controlled Syrian city of Hassakeh, drawing criticism from Ahmad al-Sharaa’s government in Damascus.

FDD Expert Response

“Ankara’s attempts to force the SDF to dissolve, disarm, and integrate into the Syrian state lack teeth and risk destabilizing Syria’s fragile unity. Turkey is unwilling to start a military conflict inside Syria. The Sharaa government also lacks the means to compel the SDF to dissolve, as the Kurdish-led fighting force is far superior to the military of the so-called central government. Furthermore, any attempt to force the SDF’s hand risks further Israeli intervention against Sharaa’s security forces as witnessed following Bedouin attacks against Syrian Druze.” — Sinan Ciddi, Senior Fellow

“Tensions between the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces are escalating. If this conflict spirals into a full-scale war with Turkish involvement, the repercussions will be far worse than what occurred on the coast with the Alawites or in southern Syria with the Druze. Northeast Syria holds ISIS detention camps; a battle would create chaos in which ISIS will emerge as the primary beneficiary.” — Ahmad Sharawi, Research Analyst