Turkey-backed National Army formed in Syria

Around 30 sub-groups of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), under the guidance of Tukey, have unified to form the country’s 22,000 strong “National Army,” becoming Syria’s largest armed group that will fight against the Assad regime, Daesh and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists.

In 2014, the Military Operations Command (MOC) was founded by the Pentagon in order to be the sole center to coordinate aid to opposition fighters.

MOC, which was run by American officers, carried out dealings with small groups while shunning over 40,000 Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters who operated at the highest levels of discipline and professionalism.

The Turkey-backed National Army, or al-Jaysh al-Watani in Arabic, is comprised of over 30 sub-groups which fought in the provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, Homs, Hama, Raqqa, Hasaka, Deir Ezzor and Latakia, making it the biggest fighting force in Syria since the breakout of the civil war in 2011.

The 22,000 strong National army, which was founded by the head of Syria’s Interim Government Jawad Abu Hatab, is set to play a big role in the upcoming Afrin operation.

In the wide-ranging Euphrates Shield Operation launched in August 2016, the Free Syrian Army -- with the support of the Turkish army -- had cleared 2,000 square kilometers (772 square miles) of land along the Turkish-Syrian border of terrorist elements. Over 15,000 soldiers in the newly-founded Syrian National Army are preparing to take part in the upcoming Afrin operation against PKK terrorists.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. The PKK has been conducting armed violence in the southeastern part of Turkey since 1984. More than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the three-decade long conflict.

Following the Afrin operation, brigades of the National Army will fight alongside the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) in the Tal Abyad and Manbij operations.

There are three Turkmen brigades among the ranks of the newly announced National Army that was formed following a meeting in Azaz. These brigades included the Sultan Mehmet Fatih brigade, which is under the command of Doğan Suleiman, and the Muntasir Billah and the newly-founded Sultan Murat Brigade.