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If there are symbols of how indebted the Syrian opposition forces are to Turkey, then the new military base in Aleppo province for its elite Al Hamza division is proof of that.
The flag of the Turkish red crescent receives as much prominence as that of the Syrian opposition.
In the large salute rooms where visiting commanders and dignitaries will gather to discuss tactics, it is the Turkish flag that is placed next to that of the opposition.
Sky News received an exclusive tour of the base that is due to open in less than three weeks.
They show us conference rooms where “prisoner of war training” will be given, as well as lectures on military maneuvers.
Sky News had exclusive access to a Syrian opposition army base
We see the officers’ quarters and the waiting soldiers stand at attention and salute as we are led to their rooms.
The commander is a defector since the start of the civil war in 2011, who used to work in Bashar Al Assad’s intelligence unit.
He’s eager to push home the same twin messages over and over again.
“We are not extremists,” Al Hamza Division Commander Saif Abu Baker repeatedly says.
Commander Saif Abu Baker insists his troops are not extremists
“ISIS has not left. There are 3,000 ISIS fighters in the eastern Syrian desert supported by the Assad regime and the separatist PKK (Kurds).
“They will only leave if we, the opposition, are supported and the regime ends.”
The Syrian National Army, as it is now called, was born from the Free Syrian Army and is largely backed by Turkish funds and Turkish weaponry.
Without the support of Turkey, the opposition is unlikely to be able to maintain the so-called buffer zone.
The Al Hamza Division is the elite unit of the Syrian opposition forces.
It is an area where Turkish troops have moved 30 km into Syria and extend almost 100 km along the border, expelling ISIS fighters but also the Kurdish-dominated SDF and keeping troops at bay. of the Assad regime.
When we visit the edge of the buffer zone where opposition troops are guarding positions with weapons in sandbags, the sandbags are stamped with the Turkish national flag.
The sandbags are stamped with the Turkish national flag.
Here, they can see regime troops from a kilometer away; where the fire is often exchanged between the sides.
And the opposition knows that they could not maintain the line of the so-called buffer zone without Turkish military aid.
“We have no other choice,” said Al Moatasm Division Commander Moatasm Abbas.
Commander Moatasm Abbas talks to Sky’s Alex Crawford
“Either we fight with the weapons we have or we die.
“Retiring is not an option. It does not exist in our dictionary. Our dictionary is revolution.
“We continue with the weapons that we have, whatever happens, and Turkey is the only one with us on the ground, with its weapons and military equipment.”
Opposition troops guard weapons positions
Turkey is certainly making its mark and leaving its mark in this part of Syria.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has often spoken of trying to persuade tens of thousands of the nearly four million Syrian refugees who camped on his soil to return to their homeland.
He insists that his troops are only in Syria to maintain security; to protect the land from Syrians and create a buffer zone between Turkey and those it considers terrorists.
Terrorists identified by Turkey include not only ISIS, but also the Kurdish YPG, former partners of the Western-backed SDF who were also fighting Islamic extremists, as well as Assad regime troops now supported by Russia and Iran.
Bashar al Assad has ruled Syria for 20 years
President Erdogan has always insisted that he does not want to stay inside Syria indefinitely and his troops respect the sovereignty of their neighbor.
But the pullout is unlikely to occur in the near future, and those of us we spoke to in the buffer zone know very well that their tenuous control of stability in the area depends at the moment on the Turkish military presence.
When we visited Al Bab, in the center of the town square, which was once an ISIS stronghold where they planned attacks against Aleppo, now there is a huge Turkish red crescent.
The shops and stalls are full of businesses and full of people.
But while we are there, there is a vehicle explosion.
A car parked outside a mosque has been rigged with a small amount of explosives.
Not enough to kill, although four people were injured, but enough to scare and frustrate the people of Al Bab, who are tired of constant instability and desperate for change.
A vehicle exploded in Al Bab
A man standing on the wrecked remains of the car tells us: “We have terrorists here … they are ISIS terrorists and they are the separatist parties, the Kurds.
“They are doing this … causing all these attacks … they are the PKK and ISIS and we have suffered from this for a long time.
“Since we were released until now, we are suffering from this.
“We are sending a message to the world to find a solution.”
Nine-year-old Abdul Rahman was injured by a regime bomb
In the new 200-bed hospital built by the Turkish authorities in Al Bab, we found the war wounded beaten and maimed.
9-year-old Abdul Rahman has known nothing but war his entire life.
His leg was blown up by a regime bomb, but for the first time he was fitted with a prosthesis courtesy of the Turkish-run health center, which has seven operating rooms.
The hospital provides prosthetics that would cost between $ 5,000 and $ 10,000 for free.
Abdul also has a seriously injured arm.
Turkey is investing a lot here.
Recipients are not entirely sure how genuine this generosity is and are somewhat suspicious of what it will cost them or their country in the long run.
The young man now has a prosthetic leg
But at the moment, they are in no position to refuse any aid, and Turkey appears to be the country that, metaphorically and physically, reaches out to help battered people who oppose Bashar al Assad and who have been fleeing his regime. . – many since 2011.
“I don’t want war,” says nine-year-old Abdul Rahman.
“I can’t take it. Assad has ruined everything.”
