TML Exclusive: Ankara and Damascus Expand Military Ties With Covert Southern Intel Deal
Former FSA officer: 'This is about more than cooperation; It is Turkey planting a permanent flag inside Syria’s security services'
[Damascus] Between August 10 and 12, Syrian and Turkish officials held a closed-door meeting in Quneitra. According to a former Free Syrian Army (FSA) officer who spoke to The Media Line on condition of anonymity, the talks focused on creating a new Interior Ministry “information branch” designed to channel intelligence to Ankara.
The signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on August 13, following the closed-door meeting, was a significant event. The agreement, as reported by Al Majalla, a London-based, Saudi-supported current affairs magazine, outlined Turkey’s commitment to modernize Syrian forces through training, logistics, and counterterrorism programs, thereby significantly altering the regional power dynamics.
But the details emerging from Quneitra add a critical and previously unreported layer. Turkey is not only upgrading Syria’s military capacity — it is also embedding intelligence structures in Quneitra and As-Suwayda, areas where Washington has been attempting to broker a humanitarian corridor from Israel.
The Quneitra meetings included representatives from the Syrian General Staff, the Ministry of Interior, and several Turkish security advisers. An officer with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) reported that Brig. Gen. Muhammad Qusay al-Nasser, commander of internal security, received the delegation and provided accommodations at the local police headquarters.
Behind closed doors, discussions centered on the creation of a new “information branch.” This entity, sources said, would report directly to Syria’s Interior Ministry but serve Turkish intelligence priorities in the south. It would be staffed by Syrians, including figures linked to Islamist factions like Ahrar al-Sham, and tasked with collecting and analyzing information on cross-border activities, dissident networks, and potential Israeli or US operations.
This is about more than cooperation; it is Turkey planting a permanent flag inside Syria’s security services.
“This is about more than cooperation,” the former FSA officer explained. “It is Turkey planting a permanent flag inside Syria’s security services.”
Only a day after the Quneitra delegation departed, Syria’s Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra and Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler signed their MOU in Ankara. On August 15, Al Majalla reported the outlines of that agreement, noting joint training programs, logistics support, and Turkish help in mine clearance, counterterrorism, and peacekeeping.
At a joint press conference, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan accused Israel of fueling instability and warned the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — the Kurdish-led alliance long backed by Washington — against exploiting Syria’s fragile transition. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani echoed the line, saying Israeli airstrikes undermined sovereignty and stoked sectarian strife.
For Damascus, the agreement offered much-needed military capacity. For Ankara, it represented a chance to shape Syria’s security institutions from within — beginning in the south, where Druze and Bedouin groups clash, and Israeli airstrikes continue.
The location of this intelligence buildup is no accident. As-Suwayda and Quneitra are home to Syria’s Druze minority, whose calls for self-determination have grown louder since clashes erupted in July.
The potential impact on the local population is significant, with some demonstrators even waving Israeli flags in al-Karamah Square, emphasizing how regional fault lines intersect in the province.
People are dying of hunger or bullets
Aya Kiwan, a Druze activist in Sweida, said that the community feels abandoned by Damascus and exploited by regional powers. “The humanitarian situation is tragic, the Red Crescent is not enough, and restrictions at checkpoints mean people are dying of hunger or bullets,” she told The Media Line.
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Some Druze factions have called for international protection, a demand Israel has been quick to highlight. According to Kiwan, that risks turning As-Suwayda into a bargaining chip. “Trust in Israel is limited, but despair drives people to gestures like raising the flag,” she said.
The situation is normal, only checkpoints on the roads. We feel secure only with our army. Any other flag is occupation.
Residents of Quneitra offer a more cautious reading. Mahmoud Khairallah, a former relief worker, said he has seen no prominent Turkish presence. “The situation is normal, only checkpoints on the roads. We feel secure only with our army. Any other flag is occupation,” he said.
Druze residents of Sahwat al-Khader line up for emergency rations from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (Ahmad Qwaider The Media Line)
In As-Suwayda and Quneitra, residents report that basic services are collapsing: Food deliveries arrive sporadically and often fail to reach rural villages, pharmacies face chronic shortages of antibiotics and painkillers, and hospitals struggle to operate on limited fuel for generators. Drinking water is rationed, with some neighborhoods receiving supplies only once or twice a week, while electricity outages stretch up to 20 hours a day.
Families trying to access aid say they are forced through checkpoints where lists of “approved recipients” exclude whole households, creating what Khairallah described as “complex and humiliating conditions.” He suspects these restrictions are less about resources than about political vetting, with security services using aid as leverage to monitor loyalties and silence dissent.
That overlap — between aid and intelligence — is precisely where the new “information branch” is likely to operate. By embedding inside civilian structures, Ankara could both monitor local networks and influence resource flows.
Further evidence of Ankara’s expanding footprint in the south came in recent days. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reports that Syria’s Ministry of Defense has recruited roughly 200 young men from villages in Quneitra Governorate and transferred them to Türkiye, where they are currently undergoing military training. Analysts see this as another indication that Ankara is not only advising Damascus but also reshaping its manpower on the ground.
Analysts say the intelligence moves fit neatly into Turkey’s broader Syria playbook. Malik al-Abdeh, managing director of Conflict Mediation Solutions and editor of the policy newsletter Syria in Transition, noted in his August edition that Ankara had pressured Damascus to pull out of French-hosted talks with the Kurds and instead deepen ties with Moscow.
Turkey, he argued, wants to preempt regional ethnic autonomy by embedding itself in Syrian institutions — including intelligence — and by ensuring that Damascus can confront both Kurdish autonomy in the northeast and Druze self-rule in the south.
The message from Ankara is simple: A strong centralized state in Damascus, backed by Turkey and Russia, is the only way to hold the country together
“The message from Ankara is simple: A strong centralized state in Damascus, backed by Turkey and Russia, is the only way to hold the country together,” al-Abdeh wrote.
That vision collides directly with American and Israeli strategies. The United States continues to fund the SDF’s operations, with a $130 million allocation announced in July to run through 2026. Israel, for its part, sees both Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) — the Islamist group aligned with President Ahmed al-Sharaa — and Turkey as threats. Earlier this year, Israeli jets struck Syrian airbases to signal opposition to any Turkish military footprint in the south.
Daily Sabah, a pro-government Turkish daily, reinforced Ankara’s line in mid-August, accusing Israel of stoking Druze unrest and warning the US-backed Yekîneyên Parastina Gel (YPG), the Syrian Kurdish militia at the core of the SDF, against pursuing autonomy. Foreign Minister Fidan declared, “We are seeing developments we can no longer tolerate. The terrorists are not leaving Syria.”
The juxtaposition is stark: While Turkey pledges to help Syria unify, Israel highlights and supports demands for regional ethnic autonomy, and the US hedges between both, seeking to protect Kurdish allies while managing relations with Ankara.
President Ahmed al-Sharaa has promised to protect Syria’s minorities. Still, nearly nine months after ousting Bashar Assad, concrete measures remain scarce. For Druze and Alawite leaders, promises ring hollow, fueling demands for self-rule.
The agreement strengthens our air force against Israel’s raids. Turkey’s strategic goals serve a united state. The Gulf supports this vision too.
In Damascus, analyst Elias Abu Jrab told The Media Line that Turkey’s involvement is viewed as stabilizing by al-Sharaa and his political and security cabinet. “The agreement strengthens our air force against Israel’s raids. Turkey’s strategic goals serve a united state. The Gulf supports this vision too,” he said.
But trust among Syria’s minorities — Kurds, Druze, and Alawites — is scarce. Memories of HTS’ atrocities linger, and many fear that integrating former rebels into security structures will deepen sectarian wounds rather than heal them.
The anonymous source who described the Quneitra talks is a former officer of the FSA. Formed in 2011 after Assad’s brutal crackdown on protesters in Daraa, the FSA consisted primarily of Sunni officers who defected from the Syrian military. Initially viewed as a leader of the uprising, it later fractured due to pressure from Islamist factions and a lack of international support.
That legacy matters. For many former FSA officers, the new partnership is a bitter reversal: They once fought Assad and resisted Turkish interventions, yet now see Ankara and Damascus aligning.
President Donald Trump, in his second term, has maintained close ties with both Erdoğan and Netanyahu, and dispatched envoy Tom Barrack to keep Ankara and Jerusalem from open conflict. But the US position is precarious: continuing to support the SDF militarily while trying to reassure Turkey that Kurdish autonomy will not be entrenched.
Whether Turkey and Syria implement their MOU fully — and whether Israel escalates to stop them — may determine the next phase of the conflict.
None of them ask what we want. They only ask what we can give them.
For the people of southern Syria, however, the calculus is simpler. They face hunger, checkpoints, and airstrikes. Kiwan put it bluntly: “We are trapped between powers who see our land as a corridor — Turkey from the north, Israel from the south, America from above. None of them ask what we want. They only ask what we can give them.”
Jacob Wirtschafter reported from Istanbul.
