[DAMASCUS] Turkey and Syria are moving to deepen security coordination after senior officials from both governments met in Ankara last Sunday, with Ankara preparing in the coming weeks to supply Damascus with armored vehicles, drones, artillery, missiles, and air-defense systems, according to a senior Syrian official. The prospective transfer—paired with talks to widen Turkey’s operational depth against Kurdish armed factions from 5 km to as much as 30 km inside Syria—aims to tighten border control and formalize cooperation against groups both capitals deem threats.
The Ankara meeting brought together Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler, and Intelligence Chief İbrahim Kalın with their Syrian counterparts: Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra, and Intelligence chief Hussein al-Salama. Participants discussed counterterrorism, border security, and field coordination in northern Syria, while stressing the need to avoid escalatory moves in the south that could spark tensions with Israel, the Syrian official said.
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Since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024 and the rise of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, Turkish-Syrian contacts have accelerated through successive political and security meetings designed to rebuild trust and stabilize the frontier. The latest dialogue reflects a joint effort to reset ties after years of confrontation over the Syrian conflict, Turkish cross-border incursions, and rival alliances.
A key element under discussion is expanding an existing arrangement that authorizes Turkish action against Kurdish fighters near its southern border. Ankara seeks greater latitude to pursue targets linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey, the US, and the European Union designate as a terrorist organization. Turkey argues that the People’s Protection Units, the backbone of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), are an extension of the PKK—a charge the SDF denies. Broadening the depth and scope of Turkish operations would formalize practices seen intermittently in recent years and embed them in a bilateral framework.
These steps intersect with a separate track: SDF commander Mazloum Abdi has announced a preliminary understanding with Damascus to fold SDF structures into Syria’s Defense and Interior ministries. Abdi told Agence France-Presse that joint committees are crafting mechanisms to implement a March 10 agreement with al-Sharaa covering the integration of military and civilian institutions of the Kurdish-led administration into state bodies and the transfer of border crossings, airports, and oil and gas fields to central government control.
If realized, the twin processes—Turkish-Syrian security coordination and SDF-state integration—would reshape authority in northern and eastern Syria. They could also recalibrate regional dynamics by reducing the space for autonomous Kurdish governance and by aligning Turkish and Syrian security priorities, even as both sides signal caution to prevent spillover that could draw in Israel or upend emerging ceasefire lines.