Syria and Turkey strike new military deal

Countries' foreign ministers accuse Israel of creating sectarian strife in Syria

Syria and Turkey have struck a deal on military training and consultancy during a high-level Syrian delegation’s visit to Ankara on Wednesday, Turkey’s Defence Ministry announced.

The agreement was signed for the regular exchange of personnel to enhance military co-operation; specialised skills training; and a series of programmes in counterterrorism, mine clearance, cyber defence, military engineering, logistics and peacekeeping operations.

The Syrian delegation included Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani and Intelligence Director Hussein Al Salama.

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Before the agreement was signed, Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler met his Syrian counterpart Murhef Abu Qasra to discuss bilateral and regional defence as well as security issues. The ministry said the agreement underscored both countries’ commitment to strengthening co-operation.

The deal follows months of negotiations on a broader military co-operation pact, initiated after the ousting of former Syrian president Bashar Al Assad in December.

During their meeting in the capital, Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Mr Al Shibani accused Israel of undermining Damascus's rule and fuelling sectarian strife by claiming to be protecting the Druze minority during violence in the south of the country.

“What is taking place in Syria is being created by Israel. Israel wants sectarian strife to take hold in Syria, but we want peace to prevail in the region,” Mr Al Shibani said.

Israel last month carried out air strikes on Sweida in southern Syria and the Defence Ministry building in central Damascus after days of violence between Bedouin tribes, pro-government forces and members of Syria’s Druze community. The religious minority is deeply embedded in Syria and Israel, as well as Jordan and Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government justified its strikes on grounds that combine national security with protection of the Druze.

In the Turkish capital on Wednesday, Mr Al Shibani rejected the idea that the country’s Druze community was being sidelined by Damascus and needed protection from an outside power.

“The Druze are part of Syrian society, and under no circumstances are we going to shut them out,” he said. “We don't have any such intentions. This is being bandied about by Israel, but we reject those claims.”

People ride a motorcycle past a burned-out military vehicle in Syria's predominantly Druze city of Sweida. Reuters

The meetings in Turkey came after Syria agreed to form a working group to sustain the fragile ceasefire in Sweida and assure long-term security, following talks in Jordan.

Since the Assad regime fell in December, Israel has also taken territory in a UN-patrolled buffer zone in southern Syria’s Golan Heights, a rocky plateau that has been occupied by Israel since the 1960s.

The US, which has lifted sanctions on Syria, has called on Damascus to join the Abraham Accords, a set of agreements establishing relations with Israel. Syrian and Israeli officials have met in the Azerbaijani capital Baku but reports of a peace agreement with Israel were “premature", Syrian state television said last month.

Mr Fidan also accused Israel of attempting to destabilise Syria as part of what he described as “expansionist” policies in the Middle East.

“Syria is but one leg of their policies and they're trying to undermine Syria,” Mr Fidan said. “You should make sure that your neighbouring countries are prosperous and that they are secure,” he added, addressing the Israeli government and population.

Acknowledging the security challenges that Syria faces and the recent violence in Sweida, Mr Fidan called on Middle Eastern and Arab nations to back Syria. “We need to support these efforts, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, Iraq, all the other countries in the region – we must join our forces and unite our forces and help Syria get back on her feet,” he said.

Turkey, Syria’s largest northern neighbour, has emerged as a key source of influence over the new government of President Ahmad Al Shara since the Assad regime’s fall.

This is the latest in a series of frequent meetings between Turkish and Syrian officials, most recently when Mr Fidan met Mr Al Shara in Damascus last week.

Over the course of the past 14 years, Turkey has hosted more than three million Syrians who fled the conflict in their home country and Ankara is under domestic pressure to see them return back across the border. Turkish contractors are also eyeing opportunities in Syria’s reconstruction and last week the Turkey-Syria Business Council was re-established as the two countries seek closer trade ties.

Mr Fidan said Syria’s safety and security was Ankara’s number one priority. “Syria should exist in peace and in unity," he said. "As Turkey, we have been offering our advice to Syria. We have been supporting these endeavours, with our friends, with our partners in Syria.”

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, right, and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani, second right, during a meeting in Ankara. EPA

Ankara is also concerned by slow progress on efforts to integrate Kurdish militias in Syria’s north-east into security forces controlled from Damascus. Turkey views forces under the umbrella of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which it designates as a terrorist organisation, as do the European Union and the US. In July, the PKK agreed to dissolve itself but Kurdish armed groups in Syria have said the move does not apply to them.

The SDF signed an integration agreement with Damascus in March but the contours of actually doing so remain contentious.

Mr Fidan, who has previously said he wants to see the elimination of PKK affiliates in Syria, said Turkey “will have to take action” if its security demands are not met.

“We harbour good intentions, but that doesn't mean that we will turn a blind eye to mischievous or devious ways,” he said.

Syria has rejected federal arrangements for Kurdish semi-autonomy. Damascus pulled out of talks scheduled to take place in Paris to mediate differences with Kurdish-led forces, after they hosted a meeting that called for a decentralised administration.

“They were trying to sow seeds of discord,” Mr Al Shibani said in Ankara, of the meeting that took place in Hasakah, in north-eastern Syria, last week.