The move is seen as a key way of professionalising and unifying the Syrian army in the post-Assad era [Getty]
The Syrian Ministry of Defence announced this week that it had reactivated the service of more than two thousand defected officers from the army of the deposed regime of Bashar al-Assad, as part of a wider reorganisation of the armed forces.
On its official channels, the ministry said it had “conducted interviews with more than 3,100 defected officers from various military specialisations in recent months”, confirming that “more than two thousand of them have now been activated within formations of the army currently operating in the field”.
It added that the plan to reintegrate remaining officers would continue “as part of the efforts to enhance the efficiency of military human resources and improve the organisation of work within combat units and formations”.
Many of the officers now being reinstated were among the thousands who defected from the Assad regime’s army in 2011 and 2012, when security forces began waging war on unarmed protesters during the early months of the uprising.
Some joined opposition groups or fled abroad, while others withdrew from public life. Their return marks a striking reversal of fortunes, reflecting the transitional government’s effort to rebuild the army around professional, non-ideological ranks officers and soldiers than the factional loyalties of militia-based security forces.
The reactivation could be part of an effort to change the institutional core of the army, replacing Islamist-leaning militias that had dominated parts of the security landscape in the chaotic months following the fall of the Assad regime.
At the same time, Turkey’s Ministry of National Defence has confirmed that new Syrian cadets are receiving education at the country’s National Defence University under a bilateral training framework.
The ministry described them as “guest students” and stressed that “they return to their countries after completing their training”, rejecting claims that they might serve in Turkish forces.
Around 49 Syrian students are reportedly enrolled across army, naval, and air force programmes in Turkey.
Observers say the programme is designed to cultivate a new generation of officers trained in conventional, state-run military doctrine – a sharp contrast to the fractured, militia-heavy model that emerged during Syria’s long conflict.
Both moves – the reinstatement of defected officers and the Turkish training initiative – signal an effort to professionalise the new Syrian army and possibly counter Islamist elements within its ranks.
Damascus has described the restructuring as essential to “raise efficiency and organise work within units and formations”, while Ankara has framed its involvement as ensuring that Syria’s future armed forces are unified, non-political, and cooperative with regional security goals.
The move also follows incidents in which rogue security elements were linked to sectarian violence in coastal areas and Suweida, emphasising Damascus’s push to reassert control over its forces.
The announcements come amid sporadic violence in areas formerly dominated by militias. On Tuesday, The New Arab’s Arabic edition Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported that a civilian was killed and another injured in rural Latakia after being shot by masked men, and that an internal security officer was found dead near the Daraa al-Balad dam days after his disappearance.
Together, the developments suggest that Syria’s transitional government, working in coordination with Turkey, is seeking to consolidate military control under a centralised command – and to move decisively away from potential ideological and sectarian divides within the ranks of the armed forces.
