Turkey Ready To Provide Military Support To Syria To Fight Terrorism

JAKARTA - Turkey's Ministry of Defense on Wednesday said the country was ready to provide military support to Syria to fight terrorism.

The Syrian government is asking for official support from Turkey to strengthen its defense capacity and combat terror groups, especially Daesh (ISIS), a ministry source told reporters at the 2025 International Defense Industry Exhibition (IDEF) in Istanbul.

"In line with this request, we continue to strive to provide training, consultation, and technical support to increase Syrian defense capacity," the source said, asking for his identity to be kept secret.

"Turkey's main goal is to support the political unity and integrity of the Syrian territory and lead efforts to achieve lasting peace in the region," he added.

The new Syrian government has been trying to restore national order since the overthrow of former leader of the Bashar Assad regime on December 8, 2024.

Ankara, which has good relations with the new government, has repeatedly offered Damascus its operational and military assistance to fight Daesh and other terrorist threats.

ISIS captured large parts of Syria and Iraq in the early years of civil war, declaring a cross-border "cavity" in 2014 before being defeated territorially in 2019.

The terrorist group has since turned to "programmed attacks on strategic targets" in Syria and maintained hidden cells in northeast areas.

In May, the Syrian security service found more ISIS cells in rural Damascus, a week before terrorists carried out suicide attacks in a church that killed at least 20 people.

President Recep Tayyip Erdobulan has promised Turkey "will not allow terrorists to drag Syria back into chaos and instability."

Last month, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Turkey along with Syria, Jordan and Iraq had the Kontra-Daesh Coordination Cell.

He said an effective combined mechanism against Daesh meant the West no longer needed to rely on YPG terrorists (militan kurdish) to fight Daesh.