Group of 230 Peshmerga forces trained by Turkish soldiers

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 said.

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.