The Syrian government requested help from neighboring Turkey to organize its military and suppress terrorist factions that threaten to rip the nation apart.
Officials with the Syrian Ministry of Defense told the Associated Press on Wednesday that the government asked Turkish leaders for help in strengthening its national defense and combating “terrorist organizations” such as the Islamic State.
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The request comes on the heels of widespread violence in Sweida Province, where an ethnic feud between the Druze and Bedouins, two tribal kin groups native to the region, has transformed into an international conflict with President Ahmed al Sharaa’s government and Israel as combatants.
Israel used evidence of persecution against Druze in Sweida by government military personnel as justification to launch a series of strikes against Damascus that hit the Ministry of Defense and the Presidential Palace.
Last week, the United States helped broker a ceasefire that ended the cross-border violence. However, reports of continued attacks between Druze and Bedouins suggest the core struggle between the two communities remains.
Over the weekend, Secretary of State Marco Rubio alluded to the presence of violent radicals inside and outside the Syrian military that are exacerbating the problem.
“If authorities in Damascus want to preserve any chance of achieving a unified, inclusive and peaceful Syria free of ISIS and of Iranian control they must help end this calamity by using their security forces to prevent ISIS and any other violent jihadists from entering the area and carrying out massacres,” Rubio said on social media. “And they must hold accountable and bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks.”
For this purpose and others, Syria is now reportedly asking Turkey for help.
Since the collapse of former Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime last year, Turkish officials have expressed a readiness to intervene in Syria if the nation threatened to come apart once again.
Turkey supports the post-Assad government formed by al Sharaa and has accused Israel of attempting to undermine the struggling nation through military action and provocation, alleging it seeks to keep the region unstable to expand its control.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Tuesday at a press conference in Ankara that his nation is prepared to intervene to protect the stability of Syria from Israeli actions.
“Discuss anything you wish, make whatever demands you have, Türkiye is willing to assist, but if you go beyond that, we will not allow ourselves to remain under threat,” Fidan said, according to translations. “Israel pursues a policy aimed at weakening its region and keeping it in chaos.”
“Despite this, while continuing our struggle, we aim to promote stability and goodwill as part of a broader strategic vision,” Fidan continued. “Our relations with Iraq, Syria, and Iran are evolving in this direction.”
A Syrian American and member of the Druze community, identified by relatives as Hosam Saraya, was reportedly killed by Syrian government fighters on July 16.
STATE DEPARTMENT CONFIRMS US CITIZEN KILLED IN SYRIA AMID BEDOUIN VIOLENCE AGAINST DRUZE
“We offer condolences to the family on their loss and are providing consular assistance to them,” the State Department said in a statement, though it did not confirm the victim’s identity. “We are greatly concerned when any U.S. citizen is harmed overseas, wherever they are. The United States calls for accountability in all cases where U.S. citizens are harmed abroad.”
Saraya’s relatives said he was gunned down by the Syrian military alongside his brother, father, and members of his extended family at Tishreen Square.