Turkish army to train Syrian army

[shira]

Turkey and Syria have agreed on training of Syrian army by Turkish military, sources said on Monday.

Sources told the Anatolia news agency that Turkey's Deputy Chief of General Staff Aslan Güner visited Damascus, Syria in December and debated training of Syrian army. During his visit, Guner participated in Turkey-Syria High-Level Military Dialogue Meeting. Sources said two countries debated training of armed forces during the meeting. In this context, the two countries also discussed in detail the training of Syrian soldiers by Turkish soldiers.

Some circles think that Syrian army, which had been an ally of the former Soviet Union for years, could assume western style in case Syrian soldiers are trained by Turkish soldiers.

Turkish and Syrian army came to the brink of war in 1998 as Syria sheltered the terrorist organization PKK. However, the two countries launched a cooperation against the PKK with the Adana Agreement signed the same year and defined as the turning point of Turkish-Syrian political relations. After the agreement, Syrian security forces staged many operations against the terrorist organization.

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http://www.todayszaman.com/news-234036-turkish-army-to-train-syrian-army.html

[bemildred]

1. A very interesting development. nt

[Swede]

2. That ought to cheer up the Kurds.

nt

[Ken Burch]

3. Given that Turkey is and will always remain a democracy

Isn't it a GOOD thing that they'll be training the Syrian army?

They might actually begin to impart the notion that a country can have stability WITHOUT being a police state.