Turkish foreign ministry confirms Syrian rebel training to start soon


08-05-2015 08:14 PM

Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Turkey and the U.S. inked a deal on Feb. 19 to train and equip Syrian opposition forces aimed at a political transformation in the war-torn country on the basis of the Geneva Communique. However the exact date when the program would begin was uncertain, having already been delayed several times. Speaking to reporters at a weekly press briefing on Friday, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç dismissed allegations in the media that the program would not start as “baseless and speculative."

“The training program is proceeding according to schedule,” Bilgiç said adding that its legal foundation had already been established, “The program will start in the coming days.”

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on May 2 that Turkey would start the "train-and-equip" program for Syrian opposition fighters with U.S. involvement on May 9, training them to fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Nearly 5,000 Syrian opposition troops will be trained per year in countries participating in the program, with around 1,500-2,000 to be trained in Turkey. Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have all agreed to host training sites as well.

The US has begun to train a group of approximately 90 Syrian rebels, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter confirmed Thursday, saying that a second group will begin training in the coming weeks.

Touching upon some reports that Turkey and Saudi Arabia are forming a military alliance to help the rebels fight the Assad regime, Bilgiç said: "Our views on Syria coincide with those of Saudi Arabia."

*BGN News




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