Trend News Agency
February 17, 2015
Turkey, US reach agreement to train Syrian opposition groups
Following almost nine months of negotiations between Turkey and the U.S., NATO allies reached an agreement on training and equipping moderate Syrian opposition groups that fight to topple the regime of President Bashar Assad, Daily Sabah reported.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgiç said that the agreement protocol, which is designed to train the Free Syrian Army (FSA), will be signed at a meeting in the U.S.
Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz is expected to meet U.S. officials at the White House Summit on Violent Extremism on Wednesday or Thursday. Bilgiç said that once the protocol is signed, practical steps will be taken at a time no further than next month.
The FSA has long been asking for more assistance in its fight against the Assad regime. There has been heavy fighting recently in northern Syria. The FSA still control parts of Aleppo, though government and its allied forces have been closing in.
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The program is expected to start in March and will reportedly last three years. After this time, a total of 15,000 Syrian opposition fighters are expected to have been trained in Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Turkey is expected to host around 100 U.S. soldiers connected to the training. Turkey will also directly train between 500 and 2,000 opposition fighters a year.
Following a visit to Ankara by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Nov. 22, 2014, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and he agreed on Turkey’s efforts to train and equip moderate Syrian opposition forces protecting their communities.
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