Middle East
Turkey's Defence Minister Yasar Guler attends the Meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at the NATO headquarters, in Brussels, on June 4, 2025. Photo: John Thys/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s defense minister said on Wednesday that it has no immediate plans to withdraw its troops stationed in Syrian territory and is currently engaged in training and advising Syria’s army.
The withdrawal can “only be re-evaluated when Syria achieves peace and stability, when the threat of terrorism in the region is fully removed, when our border security is fully ensured, and when the honorable return of people who had to flee is done,” Yasar Guler told Reuters.
Turkey sent its army into northern Syria in 2016 to conduct cross-border operations against Kurdish forces, establishing dozens of bases and seizing control of vast stretches of land in the process.
In 2018, Turkey and its allied Syrian militias seized control of Afrin, a Kurdish enclave in Rojava. Thousands of Kurds fled, with many settling in the nearby Shahba region. International organizations have recorded widespread violations in Afrin since then, including killings, kidnappings, looting of crops, and extortion of Kurdish farmers.
“We have started providing military training and consultancy services, while taking steps to increase Syria’s defense capacity,” Guler said.
In December, the Islamist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a blistering offensive from their stronghold of Idlib in northwest Syria and marched on Damascus, overthrowing Bashar al-Assad’s regime. HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa set up a transitional government and appointed himself as interim president.
Ankara has enjoyed strong ties with the interim authorities in Damascus and has promised to help rebuild the war-torn country and assist in the return of millions of Syrian refugees who fled to Turkey during the civil war.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also played a central role in US President Donald Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on Syria, and was thanked by Sharaa for his efforts in a meeting between the two heads of state in Istanbul late last month.
The withdrawal can “only be re-evaluated when Syria achieves peace and stability, when the threat of terrorism in the region is fully removed, when our border security is fully ensured, and when the honorable return of people who had to flee is done,” Yasar Guler told Reuters.
Turkey sent its army into northern Syria in 2016 to conduct cross-border operations against Kurdish forces, establishing dozens of bases and seizing control of vast stretches of land in the process.
In 2018, Turkey and its allied Syrian militias seized control of Afrin, a Kurdish enclave in Rojava. Thousands of Kurds fled, with many settling in the nearby Shahba region. International organizations have recorded widespread violations in Afrin since then, including killings, kidnappings, looting of crops, and extortion of Kurdish farmers.
“We have started providing military training and consultancy services, while taking steps to increase Syria’s defense capacity,” Guler said.
In December, the Islamist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a blistering offensive from their stronghold of Idlib in northwest Syria and marched on Damascus, overthrowing Bashar al-Assad’s regime. HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa set up a transitional government and appointed himself as interim president.
Ankara has enjoyed strong ties with the interim authorities in Damascus and has promised to help rebuild the war-torn country and assist in the return of millions of Syrian refugees who fled to Turkey during the civil war.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also played a central role in US President Donald Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on Syria, and was thanked by Sharaa for his efforts in a meeting between the two heads of state in Istanbul late last month.
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