Turkey to provide weapons and support to Syria under new defence pact, officials say

Turkey will provide weapons, military equipment and logistical support to Syria under a newly signed defence agreement, Turkish Defence Ministry officials said on Thursday.

The announcement came a day after Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler and Syria's Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation on military training and consultancy, reinforcing Turkey's support to Syria's interim government.

Last month, Syria requested Turkey's support to strengthen its defence capabilities following sectarian violence in the country that also drew intervention by Israel.

Under the agreement, Turkey would share its "knowledge and experience" and supply military equipment, weapons systems and logistical materials to help strengthen the country’s capabilities, Turkish Defence Ministry officials said.

Syria's interim government has faced mounting challenges in restoring order after nearly 14 years of civil war following the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad by Islamist-led rebel forces in December.

Most recently, hundreds were killed in clashes in the southern province of Suwayda between government forces and local Bedouin tribesmen on one side and fighters from the Druze minority on the other.

Turkey has been supportive of Syria’s new administration, which is formed largely by rebels that Ankara backed during the civil war.

On Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned Israel and Kurdish fighters to cease actions that threaten Syria’s stability, accusing them of undermining efforts to re-establish itself.

Speaking during a news conference in Ankara, Fidan accused the US-allied and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) of stalling the implementation of an agreement that was reached in March to merge with the Syrian army.

Last week, representatives of Syria's various ethnic and religious groups held a conference in Hassakeh and called for the formation of a decentralised state and the drafting of a new constitution that guarantees religious, cultural and ethnic pluralism.

The Syrian government criticised that meeting and alleged that among the attendees were some with secessionist ambitions.

It said that as a result it long longer intends to join planned talks with the SDF in Paris that had been agreed upon in late July. No date had yet been set for those talks.