The United States has quietly redeployed troops to Syria as the nation adjusts to the installed temporary government. Ahead of their arrival, around 1,200 Syrian military members completed a graduation ceremony for the 56th Division of the newly formed Syrian army. The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham units are the primary fighters who have fought against Assad for many years. Other Syrian units are linked to Turkey, in addition to the Syrian Democratic Forces and Syrian Free Army, which are both supported by the United States.
“The course is part of a military, physical, and tactical training program aimed at raising the readiness of fighters and enhancing their combat efficiency, in accordance with the approved plan for qualifying the armed forces,” the Syrian Defense Ministry said. Maj.-Gen. Mohammed Khair Hassan, the new deputy defense minister, was previously sanctioned by the US for human rights abuses against the Kurds. This comes as no surprise as the CIA flipped the current Syrian President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former jihadist, to align with the West. Ahmed al-Hayes, the new commander of the 86th Division, was also previously sanctioned by the US.
Syria can now rebuild a larger army as it has support from US-allied Turkey and Qatar. Uyghurs who escaped China are now volunteering to fight for Syria. Some of the Uyghurs are supposed members of the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) led by Abu Muhammad al-Turkistani (translation: father of Muhammad the Turkistani). Turkey has funded these rebels, and that became possible only because Israel destroyed Hezbollah.
The US initially did not want foreign troops fighting within the newly formed army, but has since changed its stance, particularly for the Uyghurs, who cannot return to China and will be forced into loyalty. Although the US claims it is removing some military bases from Syria, the truth of the matter is that they have already had a hand in reshaping the new Syrian militia.
“The US has endorsed a Syrian government plan to absorb thousands of former rebel and foreign fighters, many of whom once fought against the Assad regime, into the country’s restructured national army,” explained Tom Barrack, the US envoy to Syria. We now have former ISIS members fighting alongside US troops. Barrack is also the US envoy to Turkey. “What I can assure you is that our current Syria policy will not be close to the Syria policy of the last 100 years, because none of these have worked,” he told reporters.
Despite the prior sanctions on current commanders for human rights abuses against the Kurds, Barrack insists that the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a “very important factor” and a US ally. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan dismantled the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and has accused the SDF of “stalling” to integrate into the Syrian militia.
Erdogan has the largest military in the Middle East, and in fact, is the second-largest military force in NATO behind the US. Turkey has yet to display the full force of its power, but Erdogan has dreams of restoring Turkey to the glory of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey is primarily Sunni, as is Qatar, and now Syria, now that Shia Assad has been ousted. There are still Shia Alawite among the ruling elite in Syria, for now.
Erdogan believes Israel is a threat to Turkish stability, calling its current actions the “Greater Israel” project and accusing the nation of attempting to extend its power throughout the Middle East by seizing Gaza. The land of Israel once belonged to the Ottoman Empire. He has criticized the UN and fellow NATO members for arming Israel. Erdogan believes he is the voice for all Arab nations and has described his “neo-Ottoman” aspirations. The SDF forces have said they are on good terms with Israel, which is precisely what Erdogan fears as he does not want the Kurds to align with Israel.
Erdogan spoke favorably of Syria in 2024, stating Turkey would not allow the nation to fracture. “We cannot allow Syria’s land to be divided once again. We cannot accept any provocation to prevent Syrians from returning to their homes. We will not stand by and watch as those who are emboldened by foreign powers try to set the region on fire. We seek security, peace, and prosperity for everyone. Once again, I congratulate the brotherly Syrian people for this magnificent revolution,” the Turkish president stated.
Now, they can get the pipeline from Qatar to cut off Russia’s energy sales to Europe. The US may be looking at this from a business perspective, but Turkey sees this as a step toward neo-Ottoman aspirations. Socrates predicted that the Syrian civil war would begin in 2011 and last for 13 years. The next major target on the war model for Syria is 2027. Turkey and the US clearly are not aligned when it comes to foreign policy in the Middle East, but are currently working as an alliance to integrate the likes of jihadists and Kurds to compose a new military stronghold in Syria.
