Media: Syria to restructure military with support from Turkish experts

Syria's new Minister of Defence, Marhaf Abu Kasra, is preparing to transition the Syrian army to a regular structure under a single command, with support from Turkish experts, according to General Ahmed Osman.

Osman, representing the new leadership of the Arab Republic noted that, the goal of Damascus is to establish an army structure of 300,000 personnel within the next year or year and a half, Caliber.Az reports via Türkiye.

"Both the delicate internal situation and the Israeli threat make this necessary. On the day the Assad regime fell, its police, army, and intelligence services numbered 470,000," he noted.

Osman explained that the structure of the military was originally not designed to face Israel or any other external threat, but rather set up against the Syrian people. He highlighted that this situation has now changed, with the new army expected to reach between 150,000 to 200,000 personnel in a short time. He added that the previous HTS forces, which numbered 40,000 to 50,000, would come from Idlib.

"Fifty thousand experienced soldiers will join from the SNA, and we will also take officers, intelligence agents, and rank-and-file soldiers who were not involved in the crimes of the Assad regime," Osman said. He emphasized the importance of restoring the military infrastructure quickly, stating, "We will restore our destroyed military infrastructure in a very short time." At this stage, he noted that Türkiye's military support was of exceptional importance.

According to the report, Türkiye will provide active advisory and expert support to the restructuring of Syria’s naval, air, and ground forces. Additionally, once the agreed-upon agreements are implemented, Türkiye’s military presence will be visible in five different locations in Syria.

By Aghakazim Guliyev