Turkey admits military support of Syria’s new Islamist rulers while refusing to pull troops from Iraq, Syria

Turkey admits military support of Syria’s new Islamist rulers while refusing to pull troops from Iraq, Syria

Abdullah Bozkurt/Stockholm Turkey’s government has officially acknowledged providing military support to Syria’s new Islamist-dominated administration while simultaneously rejecting any plan to withdraw Turkish troops and military outposts entrenched in northern Iraq and Syria, according to two letters by Defense Minister Yaşar Güler. The disclosures, contained in formal responses to parliamentary inquiries dated February 16, 2026, offer rare, o…