Turkey Knew about Militants’ Plan to Oust Al-Assad 6 Months Ago

By Staff, Agencies

The Turkish government knew about militants’ plan to launch a major offensive against former President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

The militants notified Turkey about their intention to launch the attack around six months ago, Reuters reported on Monday, citing a “diplomat in the region” and an alleged member of the anti-Damascus groups.

The Syrian source told the agency that the militants “had shown Turkey details of the planning,” urging Ankara not to intervene in the attack.

After communicating the scheme, the militants “felt they had received its [Ankara’s] tacit approval,” the sources noted.

“There was no way” the militants “could go ahead without first notifying Turkey,” one added.

The comments came a day after the militants stormed the Syrian capital after scoring major gains in the Arab country’s north around two weeks following their staging a resurgence.

The Syrian government fell early Sunday in a stunning end to President Bashar al-Assad’s rule over the Arab country after the militant group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham [HTS] stormed and captured the capital Damascus.

Reports, meanwhile, would point to strong support for the armed groups on the part of Ankara and some Western states, which have been acting as the main backers of anti-Damascus outfits since the outbreak of foreign-backed militancy in Syria in 2011.