US agrees with Turkey on training "moderate" Syrian forces

“As we have announced before, Turkey has agreed to be one of the regional hosts for the train-and-equip program for moderate Syrian opposition forces. We expect to conclude and sign the agreement with Turkey soon," US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters Tuesday.

Turkey, which is seen as the main backer of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), confirmed the agreement on training and equipping the Syrian forces in their fight against the Bashar Assad regime.

“Negotiations have been concluded and an agreement text will be signed with the US regarding the training of the Free Syrian Army in the coming period,” said Tanju Bilgic, Turkey’s foreign ministry spokesman.

The agreement is part of a plan by US President Barack Obama’s administration to train “moderate Syrian” forces, and the Pentagon has said that 400 special operations personnel will train the Syrians.

The FSA is considered a moderate opposition force, but extremist Islamists are feared to have infiltrated the group. Two years ago, US-supplied weapons to the FSA were found in the hands of ISIS and other radical groups.

Some analysts, however, point to western equipment being handed to jihadist groups openly, even very recently, with heavy weapons such as TOW anti tank missiles, and M40 recoilless rifles in the hands of ISIS as well as its rival Al-Qaeda franchise Al-Nusrah, showing that perhaps Turkey is playing all sides of the fence in an effort to destabilize the region and further its own hegemonical ambitions.