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Turkey to extend military training for Iraqi army, Sunni groups

Xinhua, March 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

Turkey will expand its support of military training to Iraqi army, Sunni tribes and Pesmerghas, as part of efforts against the Islamic State (IS), the Turkish defense minister said on Tuesday.

"We have decided to provide military training and equipping, intelligence and logistics support to Iraqi army, Peshmerga and Sunnis (groups)," Minister of Defense Ismet Yilmaz told reporters in Turkish capital of Ankara.

Training of local Sunni forces will take place in the region of Kurdish autonomous administration in northern Iraq, the minister said, adding that Ankara prefers to hold the training in Iraq, but they are open to provide the training in Turkish territory if Iraqi side demands so.

Turkish armed Forces have trained more than 1,500 Iraqi Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq, the minister said.

The training program launched in November is part of cooperation between Iraqi Kurds and Turkey in fight against the IS.

Turkey will also train up to 2,000 moderate Syrian opposition groups each year in cooperation with the United States. Turkey and U.S. will jointly decide on when the program will start, said the defense minister.

In February, Ankara and Washington signed a deal on the training and equipment program of Free Syrian Army fighters, which will take place in Central Anatolian Kirsehir province of Turkey. Endit