US soldiers arrive at ?ncirlik Airbase with weapons for train-equip program

Some 123 U.S. soldiers arrived in Turkey as part of a program to train and equip the putatively moderate Syrian opposition, along with weapons that are being transferred to ?ncirlik Airbase in the southern province of Adana.

Eighty-three of the U.S. soldiers have been deployed at ?ncirlik Airbase, while 40 of them have been transferred to the Hirfanl? base in the Central Anatolian province of K?r?ehir. 

A special group of U.S. personnel at ?ncirlik has been tasked with equipping Syrians. The program, agreed by Ankara and Washington in February, was delayed twice due to disagreements between Turkey and the U.S. on whom to train.

The Syrians who will be trained at Hirfanl? are expected to be transferred to the southern province of Hatay where they will be equipped with necessary briefing for the use of arms, including anti-tank weapons, infantry rifles and machine guns, before travelling to Syria to join fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), according to sources.

Concerned that radicals could infiltrate the trainees of the program, Washington chose to determine a broad group of Syrian opposition members on its own intelligence information, with the option that Ankara could exclude any rebels from the training program.

According to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by U.S. Ambassador to Ankara John Bass and Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlio?lu on Feb. 19, Ankara will provide an equal number of trainers to work alongside their American military counterparts.

?ncirlik Airbase has been subject to intense negotiations between Turkey and the U.S. for months as Ankara was reluctant to allow combat operations against ISIL from Turkish territory. Ankara avoided becoming a...