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Turkey, U.S. agree on deal to train, equip Syrian rebels

Xinhua, February 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Turkey and the United States have concluded discussions for an agreement to provide training and equipping program for Syrian rebels, a Turkish official said on Tuesday.

"Negotiations between Turkey and the U.S. for training of Free Syrian Army members are finalized," Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgic said.

The agreement will be signed in upcoming days and training will probably be launched in March, he noted.

The program aims to train a total of 15,000 Syrian opposition fighters in a three-year period, which 5,000 of them will be trained at a military base in central Turkish province of Kirsehir.

Ankara and Washington have been in negotiations for months on how to respond to the crisis in Syria.

Turkey has been reluctant to take robust measures and declined to be a fully-fledged part of the anti-IS coalition unless Washington agrees to adopt an "integrated strategy" that also targets the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power.

Turkey, once an ally of Assad, is now the fiercest opponent of the Syrian government and has been supporting the oppositions trying to topple him since 2011. Endit