Turkey Is Evacuating a Second Syrian Military Outpost

Trucks arrived in northern Hama to prepare pullout


Turkish-backed rebels are reporting that Turkey is going to evacuate a second military outpost in northern Syria, with trucks having arrived to begin the process. The base is in Hama, and troops will be relocated to Idlib Province.

Turkey evacuated the first outpost a few weeks ago, arguing it was no longer of military value. In this case, the outpost is outside of their zone of control, and likely inconvenient to keep defending with their control mostly in the far north of Idlib.

Turkey had suggested before that this was the start of moving away from these outposts meant to prop up rebel factions who’ve long lost relevance in the region. Though they don’t want to appear to be backing out of Syria, it’s clear they want to revise that commitment.

Turkey’s rebels retain a small part of northern Idlib, and Aleppo Province. Turkey has threatened recently to reinvade to expel Kurds from northern Syria.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.