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Türkiye Establishes Presence in Syria with 10,000 Soldiers, Dozens of Military Bases

Fighters of an extremist faction backed by Türkiye in the countryside of the city of Al-Bab, Aleppo Governorate, last January 8 (AFP)
Fighters of an extremist faction backed by Türkiye in the countryside of the city of Al-Bab, Aleppo Governorate, last January 8 (AFP)
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Türkiye Establishes Presence in Syria with 10,000 Soldiers, Dozens of Military Bases

Fighters of an extremist faction backed by Türkiye in the countryside of the city of Al-Bab, Aleppo Governorate, last January 8 (AFP)
Fighters of an extremist faction backed by Türkiye in the countryside of the city of Al-Bab, Aleppo Governorate, last January 8 (AFP)

For the past months, Turkish armed forces in northwestern Syria de-escalation zones have carried out redeployment and mergers at military points that were established under a Turkish-Russian agreement in 2017.

According to an agreement within the framework of the Astana talks, Türkiye gained the opportunity to expand its deployment of military points in the areas of contact within de-escalation zones.

The map of Turkish military deployment expanded until mid-2021 to include 113 military sites spread across five governorates: 55 in Aleppo, 43 in Idlib, nine in Raqqa, four in Hasakah, and two in Latakia.

However, the number of those sites was later reduced to 64 because of redeployment operations.

Turkish army deployment in northwestern Syria currently constitutes an obstacle to regime and Russian forces, as well as Iranian militias.

Turkish military points and bases are distributed in a way designed to make it difficult for pro-regime forces to advance towards opposition-held areas without first clashing with the Turkish forces directly.

According to a report published by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Friday, seven Turkish military brigades are currently deployed in Syria de-escalation zones. The brigades are distributed over 49 main military bases.

These bases are tasked with securing logistics support for Turkish forces.

Each combat brigade consists of 1,500 soldiers, meaning that the full number of Turkish forces in de-escalation zones amounts to 10,500 fully equipped soldiers.

Every military base in the region hosts dozens or hundreds of soldiers affiliated to different disciplines, such as engineering, special units, artillery units, missile units, and communication.

These forces are backed by artillery, tanks, armored vehicles, anti-aircraft systems and mine sweepers.

Moreover, every base contains a telecommunication tower of a Turkish mobile network.

Around 200 tanks, 400 armored vehicles, 800 armored personnel carriers and dozens of trucks and four-wheel drive vehicles are stationed in every Turkish base.

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Arab World

Abbas Calls on Hamas to Disarm, Israel to Withdraw from Gaza

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (dpa)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (dpa)
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Abbas Calls on Hamas to Disarm, Israel to Withdraw from Gaza

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (dpa)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (dpa)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday that the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan in Gaza demands Israel’s withdrawal from the enclave and for Hamas and other armed groups to turn over their weapons to his Palestinian Authority.

Speaking during a telephone call with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Abbas added that his priority now lies in implementing Trump’s plan to end the war, stop the bloodshed and ease the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza and prevent their displacement.

The implementation of the second phase will pave the way for the deployment of Palestinian police and the international stabilization force in Gaza and the launch of the reconstruction phase in an organized and effective manner, he explained.

Parallel steps must be carried out in the occupied West Bank to put an end to Israeli measures that are undermining the two-state solution, Abbas continued.

He demanded an end to Israeli settler violence against the Palestinian people, an end to settlement expansion and annexation policies, and an end to Israeli policies that are harming the Palestinian economy and government’s ability to meet its commitments to the people.

Abbas reiterated his condemnation of Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, saying the movement “must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons.”

He renewed Palestine’s commitment to recognize Israel and the two-state solution, “so that an independent Palestinian state can coexist side by side by Israel in peace and security.”

Abbas and Merz held their call hours before the German leader arrived in Israel on an official visit.

Arab World

Sudanese Paramilitary Drone Attack Kills 50, Including 33 Children in Kordofan

FILE - Sudanese soldiers from the Rapid Support Forces unit patrol during a rally for Dagalo, in Garawee town, north of Sudan, Saturday, June 15, 2019. (AP Photo)
FILE - Sudanese soldiers from the Rapid Support Forces unit patrol during a rally for Dagalo, in Garawee town, north of Sudan, Saturday, June 15, 2019. (AP Photo)
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Sudanese Paramilitary Drone Attack Kills 50, Including 33 Children in Kordofan

FILE - Sudanese soldiers from the Rapid Support Forces unit patrol during a rally for Dagalo, in Garawee town, north of Sudan, Saturday, June 15, 2019. (AP Photo)
FILE - Sudanese soldiers from the Rapid Support Forces unit patrol during a rally for Dagalo, in Garawee town, north of Sudan, Saturday, June 15, 2019. (AP Photo)

A drone attack by the Sudanese paramilitary forces hit a kindergarten in south-central Sudan, killing 50 people, including 33 children, a doctors’ group said.

Paramedics on the scene in the town of Kalogi in South Kordofan state were targeted in “a second unexpected attack," Sudan Doctors’ Network said in a statement late Friday.

Emergency Lawyers, a rights group tracking violence against civilians in Sudan reported in a statement Saturday the second strike on paramedics treating survivors in Kalogi and said “a third civilian site near the previous two” was also attacked, reported The Associated Press.

The group condemned the attack, blaming the paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, for the strikes, calling them “a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians, especially children, and vital civilian infrastructure.”

The death toll is expected to be higher, but communication blackouts in the area have made it difficult to report casualties.

Thursday's attack is the latest in the fighting between the RSF, and the Sudanese military, who have been at war for over two years. It is now concentrating in the oil-rich Kordofan states.

“Killing children in their school is a horrific violation of children’s rights,” said UNICEF Representative for Sudan Sheldon Yett in a statement Friday.

“Children should never pay the price of conflict,” said Yett.

He said UNICEF urges all parties “to stop these attacks immediately and allow safe, unhindered access for humanitarian assistance to reach those in desperate need.”

Hundreds of civilians were killed throughout the Kordofan states in the last few weeks as intensified fighting shifted from Darfur after the RSF took over the besieged city of el-Fasher.

Sudanese military aerial strikes on Sunday killed at least 48 people, mostly civilians, in Kauda, South Kordofan.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk warned that Kordofan could face new atrocities like those in el-Fasher.

Separately, the RSF condemned in a statement Friday a drone strike on the Chad-Sudan border, accusing the Sudanese military of being behind it and posted a video showing billowing black smoke. This couldn't be independently verified and it is unclear whether there were casualties in this strike. There was no immediate comment from the Sudanese military.

RSF’s violent takeover of el-Fasher was marked with executions of civilians, rapes and sexual assaults, and other atrocities. Thousands escaped and thousands more are feared killed or trapped in the city.

The RSF and the Sudanese military have been fighting for power over Sudan since 2023. More than 40,000 people were killed in the war, according to the World Health Organization, and 12 million displaced. However, aid groups say the true death toll could be way higher.

Arab World

Türkiye FM Says SDF Showing No Intent to Honor Deal to Integrate into Syrian State

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during an interview with Reuters at the 23rd edition of the annual Doha Forum, in Doha, Qatar, December 6, 2025. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during an interview with Reuters at the 23rd edition of the annual Doha Forum, in Doha, Qatar, December 6, 2025. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
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Türkiye FM Says SDF Showing No Intent to Honor Deal to Integrate into Syrian State

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during an interview with Reuters at the 23rd edition of the annual Doha Forum, in Doha, Qatar, December 6, 2025. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during an interview with Reuters at the 23rd edition of the annual Doha Forum, in Doha, Qatar, December 6, 2025. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Türkiye's foreign minister said the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are signaling "no intention" of honoring their deal to integrate into Syrian state structures and are instead trying to circumvent it.

Hakan Fidan said in an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of the Doha Forum that Ankara was not giving the Syrian government a "blank cheque" to “oppress” minorities, adding that everyone in Syria "must feel safe and free".

The minister also said Israel’s "destabilization policies" in Syria were the main obstacle to efforts to rebuild unity in the country.