On August 13, the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced that Turkish Minister of Defense Yasar Guler and Syrian Minister of Defense Murhaf Abu Qusra signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) regarding the training of Syrian troops and a military consultancy after talks in Ankara.
The MOU was signed after a visit to Turkey by a Syrian delegation consisting of Qusra, Minister of Foreign Affairs Asaad al Sheibani, and intelligence chief Hussein Salamah.
The state-owned Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) stated that the “joint military agreement between the two countries [Turkey and Syria] aims to improve the capabilities of the Syrian Army, develop its institutions, structure, and reform the security apparatus comprehensively.”
The agreement comes after a request by the Syrian government back in July for “official support from Türkiye to strengthen its defense capacity and combat terror groups” following the deadly clashes between the government forces, Arab Sunni tribes, and Druze militants in southern Syria.
Turkey has reportedly already started supplying the Syrian government with military assets. On July 23, a video surfaced showing the Syrian army receiving a batch of Turkish-made Ejder armored personnel carriers. Turkey had also previously eyed deploying its own troops and military aircraft at an airbase in central Syria, aiming to install advanced air defense systems to counter Israeli operations and to respond to threats from the Islamic State (IS). However, Israeli jets struck the proposed airbase in April.
Turkey’s support for the Syrian government serves a strategic goal, primarily its opposition to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The SDF, a coalition of Kurdish groups, controls northeast Syria—about 30 percent of the country’s territory that borders Turkey and Iraq.
Turkey argues that the SDF’s main component, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), is an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). This Kurdish group has sought autonomy in Turkey and waged an armed insurgency against the Turkish state since the 1970s.
Since the fall of the Assad regime, integrating the Kurdish-held territories into the new Syrian state has proved to be a challenge. Although the Syrian government and the SDF signed an agreement in March, progress towards integration has stalled. The main obstacles include concerns over the new government’s jihadist origins and the centralization of power by Syria’s new president, former Al Qaeda leader Ahmad al Sharaa.
Turkey has repeatedly warned the SDF that failure to integrate into the Syrian state will result in Turkey’s military intervention. On July 22, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan threatened that Turkish forces would act against any groups “taking steps aimed at dividing Syria.” On August 13, he renewed the warning, urging the SDF to abandon any plans to cooperate with Israel against Damascus and to honor its integration agreement with the central government.
These threats come amid escalating tensions between the SDF and Sunni Arab tribes in northeast Syria. Several tribes have called for a general mobilization against the SDF. Sheikh Faraj al Salamah, a tribal leader in the region, stated that “coordination is underway with all the tribes that have called for mobilization, and everyone is waiting for the right moment to begin moving.” He described their goal as the “liberation of the Syrian Jazira,” referring to the Al Hasakah Governorate in northeastern Syria.
Additionally, Middle East Eye reported that US officials have warned the SDF that Washington would not be able to defend the group if the integration deal collapses and the Syrian government launches a military operation. Middle East Eye also reported that “while Turkey would not directly intervene against the SDF, the Turkish Armed Forces could provide indirect support for a limited operation carried out by the Syrian army.”
