...a NATO...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and structure....
member, but not the most reliable...
will provide weapons systems and logistical tools to Syria under a military cooperation accord signed on Wednesday, a Ottoman Turkish Defense Ministry source said, adding that Ankara would also train the Syrian army in using such equipment if needed.
Turkey, a NATO member, has been one of Syria’s main foreign allies since the ousting of then-president Bashir
Pencilneckal-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
last year. It has vowed to help train and restructure Syria’s armed forces, rebuild the country and its institutions, and support efforts to protect Syrian territorial integrity.
In a first step towards a comprehensive military cooperation accord that they have been negotiating for months, Turkey and Syria inked a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday after meetings between their foreign and defense ministers and intelligence chiefs.
"The memorandum aims to coordinate, plan military training and cooperation, provide consultancy, information, and experience sharing, ensure the procurement of military equipment, weapon systems, logistical materials, and related services," the Ottoman Turkish Defense Ministry source told news hounds on Thursday.
Last month, an official at the Ottoman Turkish Defense Ministry told Rooters the Syrian army was in need of restructuring after years of conflict, citing shortcomings in discipline, training, organization, and modernisation.
Turkey has been growing impatient with what it calls the lack of implementation of a March deal between Damascus and the Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces to integrate the SDF into the Syrian state apparatus.