US, Turkey sign deal to train, arm militants fighting in Syria
The United States and Turkey have signed a deal to train and arm what the two sides are calling moderate militants in Syria.
"Turkey and the United States signed a document a short time ago on the train-and-equip (program)," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in the capital Ankara on Thursday.
Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu and American Ambassador to Turkey John Bass signed the agreement in Ankara, a US embassy spokesman said
The so-called train-and-equip program is likely to begin next month.
The Pentagon has said it is planning to deploy hundreds of special forces to the Middle East to train “moderate” militants outside Syria as part of the fight against ISIL terrorists, who have captured large parts of territory in Syria and around one-third of the territory of Iraq.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said on Tuesday that Ankara hopes the deal between Ankara and Washington will also strengthen the beleaguered insurgents fighting against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Last month, Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told a news conference in Washington that the US military will deploy some 400 trainers in the region in the next four to six weeks, and also send a similar number of troops to help them carry out the mission.
He said that more than 5,400 militants fighting in Syria would receive training and arms in the first year of the program. In December, the US Congress approved $500 million for the Pentagon venture.
Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since March 2011. The United States and its regional allies - especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey - are supporting the militants operating inside the country.
According to the United Nations, more than 200,000 people have been killed and millions displaced due to the turmoil that has gripped Syria for nearly four years.
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