Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s meeting with Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sara is underway at the presidential palace in Ankara.

According to reports, the talks include a defense deal to establish two Turkish bases in Syria, as well as the training of the Syrian army and its pilots by the Turkish armed forces.

Turkish reports also say the deal stipulates that Turkey will deploy F-16 fighter jets to these bases until a Syrian air force is established and will use Syrian airspace for military purposes.

There are also reports that Turkey will provide Syria with drones. “The Damascus government, whose main demand from Ankara is drones, wants to deploy radar, electronic warfare systems and integrated security systems along the border in addition to Turkish drones, especially in the context of controlling the Israeli border corridor,” a report in the pro-government newspaper Turkiye said.

Turkey is threatening a military operation in northern Syria, calling for the abolition of Kurdish autonomy, the dismantling of the Syrian Democratic Forces, whose main body is the Kurdish YPG forces, and their integration into the future Syrian army, with the withdrawal of their leadership from Syria. Ankara claims that the YPG is linked to the Kurdish PKK, which it accuses of terrorist attacks against Turkey.

The visit of the president of Syria’s interim government to the Turkish capital comes at the invitation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Last week, the head of Turkey’s MIT intelligence agency, Ibrahim Kalin, visited Damascus where he met with Ahmed al-Sara. This was preceded on January 15 by a visit to Ankara by Syrian Foreign and Defense Ministers Assad Hassan al-Saibani and Murhaf Abu Kasra.