Syria’s interim government has requested
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
’s support to strengthen its defense capabilities, Ottoman Turkish officials said Wednesday, following sectarian violence over the past two weeks that drew in Israeli strikes.
The defense ministry officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity according to procedures, said that Syria has also sought assistance to combat "terrorist organizations," including the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
group.
Turkey was working toward providing training, advisory services and technical support to help strengthen Syria’s defense capacity, the officials added. Syrian officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
Turkey was believed to provide assistance to Syrian rebels fighting Bashir
Pencilneckal-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...
, the country’s ousted leader. Now, it is a prominent supporter of the government that replaced Assad last year, headed by Ahmad al-Sharaa. It has been seeking a defense agreement with Damascus that could reportedly include establishing Ottoman Turkish military bases on Syrian territory.
Wednesday’s news, which came days after
The situation in Syria has increased tensions between Turkey and Israel, which is occupying the former no-man’s land adjacent to its border as a buffer zone. In April, Israel struck five cities in Syria, including more than a dozen strikes near a strategic air base in the city of Hama, where Turkey reportedly has interests in having a military presence. Israel accused Turkey of trying to build a "protectorate" in Syria.
That month, Turkey and Israel held talks on creating a deconfliction mechanism in Syria that would avoid festivities between the two countries. They reportedly reached an agreement following a month of talks.
Turkey has vocally criticized the recent Israeli strikes, with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan claiming Tuesday that Israel wants a divided Syria. Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important..., long a harsh critic of Israel, accused it last week of using the Druze minority in Syria as a pretext for expanding into the war-torn country.
Ankara also backs an agreement reached between Sharaa’s administration and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, to integrate into Syria’s national army. Implementation of the deal has stalled, with a major sticking point being whether the SDF would remain as a cohesive unit in the new army or be dissolved completely.
On Tuesday, Fidan warned Kurdish and other groups in Syria against exploiting the tensions to pursue autonomy, stating that any attempt to divide Syria would be viewed as a direct threat to Turkey’s national security and could prompt intervention.