Turkey has begun supplying military equipment to Syria following an official request from the government of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, signaling a potential rearmament of Syria’s military after the collapse of the previous regime.
On Wednesday, Turkey’s Ministry of Defense confirmed that it had approved a request from Damascus to provide military equipment, training, and technical support aimed at bolstering Syria’s defense capabilities.
“As long as our brotherly country, Syria, requests it, Turkey will continue to stand firmly by its side,” said Ömer Çelik, spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), during a press briefing in Ankara.
Video footage posted online Wednesday showed Turkish-made Ejder 6x6 armored personnel carriers (APCs) being transported by flatbed trucks across the Turkish-Syrian border, reportedly en route to Syrian government forces.
Although Damascus officially cited the threat posed by terrorist organizations, including the Islamic State (IS), as the reason for its request, analysts suggest that Turkey’s assistance is likely aimed at rebuilding Syria’s military following its decimation by Israeli airstrikes and internal collapse after the ousting of former President Bashar al-Assad in December.
In the months following Assad’s fall, Israel launched a sustained campaign of airstrikes across Syria, targeting the country’s air defense infrastructure, navy, air force, and military-industrial facilities. What remained of Syria’s stockpiles—largely composed of Russian and Soviet-made systems—was reportedly looted by Western intelligence agencies and redirected to Ukraine, further hollowing out Syria’s military capabilities.
While a new Ministry of Defense has been established under the al-Sharaa government, Syria’s armed forces exist more on paper than in practice. They currently rely on lightly armed tribal fighters and militants associated with former jihadist groups, including al-Sharaa’s own Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a successor organization to Al-Qaeda in Syria. The military uses outdated tanks and pickup trucks due to the lack of formal military infrastructure.
Turkey’s renewed assistance appears aimed at rearming and reorganizing the Syrian military into a more formal force—a move that could dramatically alter the balance of power in the region.
Since Assad's departure, both Israel and Turkey have been competing for influence in post-war Syria. Israeli airstrikes on Syrian airbases are widely believed to have been aimed at preventing Turkish expansion and the establishment of forward bases near Israeli-controlled territory.syri