Turkey about to begin equipping and training Syrian rebels

[Indus Falcon]

Turkey about to begin equipping and training Syrian rebels
Published: Monday, 04 May 2015

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey will begin to train and equip Syrian rebels next Saturday, local Yeni Safak newspaper reported on Saturday. A group of 300 Syrian rebels will go through the first phase of the training program and a second group of 300 rebels will come to Turkey later, Cavusoglu said.

Turkish soldiers patrol a military station at the border crossing with Syria in Akçakale

The Tukrish FM added that the trained rebels will fight against both the Islamic State (IS) group and the Syrian government forces.
On Thursday, local Daily News reported that some 123 U.S. soldiers arrived in Turkey for training the Syrian rebels, along with weapons which were transferred to Incirlik Airbase in the southern Adana province to equip part of the program.

It added that 83 of the U.S. soldiers were deployed in Incirlik Airbase, while 40 others, all members of the Special Forces, are in a military base in the central Anatolian province of Kirsehir.

In February, Ankara and Washington signed an agreement to train some 2,000 members of the Free Syrian Army in one year and 5,000 fighters in three years inside Turkey.

Turkey has been criticized for being reluctant to take robust measures and declining to be a fully-fledged part of the anti-IS coalition unless Washington agrees to adopt an "integrated strategy" that also aims to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power.

Turkey, once an ally of Assad, is now the fierce opponent of the Syrian government and has been supporting the opposition trying to topple him since 2011.


Turkey about to begin equipping and training Syrian rebels 0405153 | May 2015 Global Defense Security news UK | Defense Security global news industry army 2015

 

[Goenitz]

Teach them manners, professionalism and morality.

 

[Steve781]

Rank stupidity on the part of regional countries and the US. I hope we don't get involved.

 

[Bismarck]

We are involved (Pashmerga).

 

[Steve781]

We are involved (Pashmerga).

Peshmerga are Iraqi.
I wouldn't want to arm the Kurds in Syria any more than I would the Islamists.

 

[mike2000 is back]

Rank stupidity on the part of regional countries and the US. I hope we don't get involved.

US and Britain to boost support to Syrian rebels, says Kerry | World news | The Guardian
UK policy of supporting Syrian rebels against Bashar al-Assad 'stupid' | World news | The Guardian

Me myself, i think this is a wrong policy our leaders have adopted. I dont really undestand how this serves our interests to be honest. However, i might be wrong, since our leaders usually know better than us the international ramifications of their actions/reasons for carrying out what they do. Afterall, they have more insights than we do, so they know how to better secure our interests.

As for Turkey, i think they(and KSA/gulf sunni monarchies) dont want an Iranian friendly regime anymore in Damascus. So they wil do anything to get rid of him and deal with the consequences later. So its a kind of messy game to be honest. Don't envy ordinary Syrians, can only imagine what they are going through. However thats geo politics, there is no moraity in it unfortunately, countries will do what they think is in their interests, no matter how many hundreds of thousand die because of their actions abroad. But thats how the game is and thats hw it has always been to be honest. So cant blame our leaders and others that much.

 

[TheGrim]

Oh this should be interesting

 

[Bismarck]

Peshmerga are Iraqi.
I wouldn't want to arm the Kurds in Syria any more than I would the Islamists.

Don't miss me wrong but they are all the same. More or less. Sooner or later!

 

[Falcon29]

300 'rebels' to be trained, wow that sure makes a difference.

More like informants , they will play intelligence role for US and no military role.

 

[atatwolf]

300 'rebels' to be trained, wow that sure makes a difference.

More like informants , they will play intelligence role for US and no military role.

And you really think it is just 300 rebels? If the source says it is 300 you can multiply that by 10 fold. They will never give full details since the enemy can prepare.

 

[Cheetah786]

And you really think it is just 300 rebels? If the source says it is 300 you can multiply that by 10 fold. They will never give full details since the enemy can prepare.

And how do you plan to deal with it, when chicken come home to roost.

 

[Pandora]

What a waste of time and life sometimes i wonder how did even mankind managed to evolve from apes. Probably apes shat their brains out before evolving to mankind.

 

[atatwolf]

And how do you plan to deal with it, when chicken come home to roost.

Who do you think FSA is? They are Syrian refugees who fled their homes because of Assad's and Iran's terror campaign. They want their homes back and they will get it back... sooner than later!

 

[Cheetah786]

Who do you think FSA is? They are Syrian refugees who fled their homes because of Assad's and Iran's terror campaign. They want their homes back and they will get it back... sooner than later!

I know Afghan Talibans were to do the same after they were trained.

 

[Falcon29]

And you really think it is just 300 rebels? If the source says it is 300 you can multiply that by 10 fold. They will never give full details since the enemy can prepare.

Mate, it's large landmass. Also consider they largely have access only to small arms. They need manpower. Training a small group won't help, as they never have major success except when coordinating with other rebel groups including more hardline ones. As we saw in Idlib. What's needed is more coordination and supply lines to assist rebels. Those around Jordanian border and in Ghouta area.