Libya and Syria join Turkey’s flagship military exercise in historic firsts

IZMIR — In a pair of milestones that underscore Ankara’s growing ambitions as a regional military player, Libya and Syria have deployed forces to Turkey’s EFES-2026 Combined Joint Live-Fire Field Exercise — the first time either country has participated in a military exercise on foreign soil.

The live-fire phase of EFES-2026 ran through May 21 along the Aegean coast near İzmir, making it one of Turkey’s largest combined and joint exercises to date. Conducted under the Aegean Army Command, the drill spanned two phases — a computer-assisted command post phase in April and the live-fire field phase — drawing over 10,000 personnel from 50 nations to the İzmir Gulf and Doğanbey training ranges.

The Libyan participation carries particular symbolic weight. A total of 502 Libyan troops — 331 from the country’s eastern forces and 171 from the west — are training side by side under a single Libyan flag. It is the first time the two rival factions have jointly deployed abroad.

Turkish defense officials described the event as a concrete step toward Ankara’s long-stated “One Libya, One Army” goal. Libyan personnel have received training in amphibious operations, special forces tactics, combat diving, mine and IED awareness, and combat search and rescue.

Besides the land forces, the Libyan Combattante II G class patrol craft Shafak also participated in the naval phase of the exercise.

Syria’s participation is smaller but arguably more important diplomatically. Approximately 50 Syrian military personnel took part, making the newly reconstituted Syrian army’s first-ever exercise outside Syrian territory.

Ankara framed both nations’ attendance as part of its broader military-restructuring and advisory programs in each country, with officials saying that training and advisory cooperation with both nations will continue and expand.

Cem Devrim Yaylali is a Turkey correspondent for Defense News. He is a keen photographer of military ships and has a passion for writing about naval and defense issues. He was born in Paris, France, and resides in Istanbul, Turkey. He is married with one son.

伊兹密尔——利比亚和叙利亚向土耳其的 EFES-2026 联合实弹演习部署兵力，这是两国首次参加在外国领土上举行的军事演习，也是两国作为地区军事力量日益增长的雄心壮志的两项里程碑事件。

“EFES-2026”联合军演的实弹射击阶段于5月21日在伊兹密尔附近的爱琴海沿岸举行，是土耳其迄今为止规模最大的联合军演之一。此次演习由爱琴海陆军司令部指挥，分为两个阶段：4月份的计算机辅助指挥所阶段和实弹射击阶段，吸引了来自50个国家的1万余名人员在伊兹密尔湾和多安贝训练场参加。

利比亚的参与具有特殊的象征意义。共有502名利比亚士兵——其中331人来自东部部队，171人来自西部部队——在同一面利比亚国旗下并肩训练。这是利比亚两个敌对派系首次在海外联合部署。

土耳其国防官员称此次活动是安卡拉长期以来提出的“一个利比亚，一支军队”目标迈出的具体一步。利比亚人员接受了两栖作战、特种部队战术、战斗潜水、地雷和简易爆炸装置识别以及战斗搜救等方面的训练。

除了陆军部队外，利比亚“战斗者 II”级 G 型巡逻艇“沙法克”号也参加了演习的海上阶段。

叙利亚的参与规模较小，但其外交意义或许更为重要。约有50名叙利亚军人参加了此次演习，这也是新组建的叙利亚军队首次在叙利亚境外进行演习。

安卡拉方面将两国的出席视为其在两国开展的更广泛的军事重组和咨询计划的一部分，官员们表示，与两国的培训和咨询合作将继续并扩大。

杰姆·德夫里姆·亚伊拉利是《防务新闻》驻土耳其记者。他热衷于拍摄军舰，并对海军和国防议题充满热情。他出生于法国巴黎，现居土耳其伊斯坦布尔。他已婚，育有一子。