WASHINGTON DC – US and Turkish officials said they have reached an initial agreement to train moderate Syrian opposition fighters and are expected to sign the pact in the coming days.
“As we have announced before, Turkey has agreed to be one of the regional hosts for the train-and-equip program for moderate Syrian opposition forces. We expect to conclude and sign the agreement with Turkey soon," US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters Tuesday.
Turkey, which is seen as the main backer of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), confirmed the agreement on training and equipping the Syrian forces in their fight against the Bashar Assad regime.
“Negotiations have been concluded and an agreement text will be signed with the US regarding the training of the Free Syrian Army in the coming period,” said Tanju Bilgic, Turkey’s foreign ministry spokesman.
The agreement is part of a plan by US President Barack Obama’s administration to train “moderate Syrian” forces, and the Pentagon has said that 400 special operations personnel will train the Syrians.
The FSA is considered a moderate opposition force, but extremist Islamists are feared to have infiltrated the group. Two years ago, US-supplied weapons to the FSA were found in the hands of ISIS and other radical groups.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey have offered sites to the FSA and their American trainers. The three countries believe that the solution to the war in Syria is the overthrow of the Assad regime.
News of the Ankara-Washington agreement came on the same day the UN special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, announced that Damascus has agreed to stop bombing Aleppo for six weeks to allow the UN to pursue its ceasefire plan.
“The government of Syria has indicated to me its willingness to halt all types of aerial bombing and artillery shelling for a period of six weeks, all over the city of Aleppo,” de Mistura told the media Tuesday.
