Türkiye Begins Training Syrian Troops, Says Ministry

The Turkish Defense Ministry has announced that a group of Syrian military students will start their training on October 31 at various Turkish military institutions, as part of a bilateral agreement aimed at strengthening the security capabilities of Syria's new army.

“Within the scope of the ‘Joint Training and Consultancy Memorandum of Understanding’ signed within the framework of close cooperation aimed at increasing Syria’s defense and security capacity, 49 Syrian students [10 Land, 18 Naval, 21 Air] are planned to begin training at our War Academies tomorrow,” ministry spokesman Zeki Aktürk told a weekly press conference on Oct. 30, The Caspian Post reports citing Turkish media.

Türkiye and Syria signed the memorandum of understanding in August as part of enhanced military and security cooperation following the start of a new era in the latter. Within the frame of this agreement, the process of the restructuring of the Syrian Armed Forces has accelerated and training, consultancy, technical support and exchange of study visits have begun, according to ministry sources.

The agreement was signed upon the request of the new Syrian government with the objective of restructuring a national army capable of providing security across the country’s lands.

The sources have informed that the training of Syrian troops in various military facilities of Türkiye has already begun. They did not give exact number of troops deployed to Türkiye for training purposes.

Türkiye and Syria have developed their ties in all fields, including security and defense, since the fall out of the Assad regime in December 2024.

On Syria, another important issue that Türkiye is closely following is the implementation of March 10 agreement between the Damascus administration and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which obliges the latter to integrate its troops with the central army.