Türkiye Says Ready to Offer Military Training to Syria if New Administration Requests

People inspect the site of a mass grave from the rule of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, according to residents, after the ousting of al-Assad, in Najha, Syria, December 15, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
People inspect the site of a mass grave from the rule of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, according to residents, after the ousting of al-Assad, in Najha, Syria, December 15, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
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Türkiye Says Ready to Offer Military Training to Syria if New Administration Requests

People inspect the site of a mass grave from the rule of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, according to residents, after the ousting of al-Assad, in Najha, Syria, December 15, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
People inspect the site of a mass grave from the rule of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, according to residents, after the ousting of al-Assad, in Najha, Syria, December 15, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

The new administration in Syria should be given a chance to govern following their constructive messages, and Türkiye stands ready to provide military training if such help is requested, Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler said.

NATO member Türkiye backed the Syrian opposition that toppled President Bashar al-Assad last weekend, ending a 13-year civil war. Türkiye reopened its embassy in Damascus on Saturday, two days after its intelligence chief visited the Syrian capital.

"In their first statement, the new administration that toppled Assad announced that it would respect all government institutions, the United Nations and other international organizations," Guler told reporters in Ankara in comments authorized for publication on Sunday.
"We think that we need to see what the new administration will do and to give them a chance,” Reuters quoted him as saying.

When asked whether Türkiye was considering military cooperation with the new Syrian government, Guler said Ankara already had military cooperation and training agreements with many countries.

"(Türkiye) is ready to provide the necessary support if the new administration requests it," he added.

Since 2016, Türkiye has mounted four military operations across growing swathes of northern Syria, citing threats to its national security.
Türkiye is estimated to maintain a few thousand troops in towns including Afrin, Azez and Jarablus in northwestern Syria and Ras al Ain and Tel Abyad in the northeast.
Ankara may discuss and reevaluate the issue of Türkiye's military presence in Syria with the new Syrian administration "when necessary conditions arise", Guler said.

Türkiye's priority remains the elimination of the Kurdish YPG, part of a US-backed Syrian opposition group, and it has made this clear to Washington, Guler said.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which controls some of Syria's largest oil fields, is the main ally in the US coalition against ISIS militants. It is spearheaded by the YPG, a group that Ankara sees as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), whose militant fighters have battled the Turkish state for 40 years.
"In the new period, the PKK/YPG terrorist organization in Syria will be eliminated sooner or later," Guler said.
"Members of the organization coming from outside Syria will leave Syria. Those who are Syrian will lay down their weapons."
Guler said Türkiye saw no sign of a resurgence of ISIS in Syria, contrary to the US view.
"Has anyone heard of any attacks by DAESH terrorists in Syria in the last three years? We don't see or hear anything about DAESH at the moment," he said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.



Blinken Seeks to Avert Syria Turmoil with Europeans on Final Trip

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) met French FM Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris. Ludovic MARIN / POOL/AFP
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) met French FM Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris. Ludovic MARIN / POOL/AFP
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Blinken Seeks to Avert Syria Turmoil with Europeans on Final Trip

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) met French FM Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris. Ludovic MARIN / POOL/AFP
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) met French FM Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris. Ludovic MARIN / POOL/AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was heading on Thursday to Rome for talks with European counterparts on bringing stability to Syria in the face of flare-ups with Türkiye, capping what is likely his final trip.
Blinken had been expected to remain in Italy through the weekend to join President Joe Biden but the outgoing US leader scrapped his trip, which was to include an audience with Pope Francis, to address wildfires sweeping Los Angeles.
Blinken, on a trip that has taken him to South Korea, Japan and France, was heading on Thursday from Paris and will meet for dinner in Rome with counterparts from Britain, France, Germany and Italy.
In Paris on Wednesday, Blinken said the United States was united with the Europeans on seeking a peaceful, stable Syria, a month after the opposition factions toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
But concerns have mounted over Türkiye’s threats against Syrian Kurdish fighters, who have effectively run their own state during the brutal civil war engulfing Syria.
A war monitor said that battles between Turkish-backed groups, supported by air strikes, and Kurdish-led forces killed 37 people on Thursday.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have worked with the United States on Washington's main stated priority -- battling the ISIS extremist group -- but Türkiye says the SDF has links with PKK militants at home.
Blinken in Paris said that Türkiye had "legitimate concerns" and that the SDF should gradually be integrated into a revamped national army, with foreign fighters removed.
"That's a process that's going to take some time. And in the meantime, what is profoundly not in the interest of everything positive we see happening in Syria would be a conflict," Blinken told reporters.
"We'll work very hard to make sure that that doesn't happen."
Blinken said he expected no change on goals in Syria from US President-elect Donald Trump, who takes over on January 20.
During his last term, Trump briefly said he would accede to a plea by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to pull out US troops that have been working in Syria with the Kurdish forces.
But he backed down after counter-appeals led by French President Emmanuel Macron.
When to ease sanctions?
Also on the agenda in Rome will be whether and when to ease sanctions on Syria.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Wednesday that some sanctions "could be lifted quickly".
The US Treasury Department said this week it would ease enforcement on restrictions that affect essential services.
But US officials say they will wait to see progress before any wider easing of sanctions -- and the Biden administration is unlikely in its final days to accept the political costs of removing Syria's victorious Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels from the US "terrorism" blacklist.
While Western powers are largely in synch on Syria, some differences remain.
Blinken reiterated US calls on European countries to repatriate citizens of theirs detained in Syria for working with the ISIS group and languishing in vast camps run by the Kurdish fighters.
France and Britain, with painful memories of attacks by homegrown extremists, have little desire to bring militants back.
The Rome talks come a week after the French and German foreign ministers, Jean-Noel Barrot and Annalena Baerbock, jointly visited Damascus and met new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa to encourage an inclusive transition.
Sharaa, has promised to protect minorities after the fall of the iron-fisted but largely secular Assad.
A senior US official in turn said last month on meeting Sharaa that Washington was dropping a $10-million bounty on his head.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani will pay his own visit to Syria on Friday, during which he plans to announce an initial development aid package.
Italy's hard-right government has pledged to reduce immigration. Millions of Syrians sought asylum in Europe during the civil war, triggering a backlash in some parts of the continent that shook up European politics.
In contrast to other major European powers, Italy had moved to normalize ties with Assad just weeks before he fell, presuming at the time that he had effectively won the war.