230 Peshmerga trained by Turkish soldiers

Sevil Erkuş ANKARA

Members of the Kurdish security forces and Iraqi armed forces gather during an intensive security deployment in Diyala province north of Baghdad November 19, 2014. REUTERS Photo

Some 230 Peshmerga forces of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have been trained by Turkish soldiers so far in northern Iraq, a senior Turkish Foreign Ministry official has told the Hürriyet Daily News.

Turkey has been providing “subsidiary” military training for the Peshmerga forces and the process will continue for as long as necessary, according to the official.

Ankara has been conducting the training program for one month.

Meanwhile, Turkey and the U.S. have been trying to narrow ‘tactical differences” in discussions for the training and equipping program for moderate Syrian opposition groups, according to the same official, who added that any final agreement would have to be approved by Parliament after a legal examination of the text.

The train-equip program envisages the training of some 5,000 Syrians every year, 2,000 of whom will be trained in Turkey.

The rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) will provide the names of Syrian fighters to be included in the program, after which intelligence organizations will confirm the list, the official said, adding that the U.S will bear most of the cost of the program.