Turkey denies asking Britain to help protect al-Sharaa

The Turkish Presidency’s Disinformation Combat Center said the report published today by a foreign news agency, stating that “Turkey asked the British intelligence service (MI6) to increase protection for the Syrian president,” is inaccurate.

The center added that Turkish intelligence cooperates effectively with international intelligence agencies and Syrian security services to combat terrorism. It pointed to recent successful operations against the Islamic State group carried out in coordination with Syrian authorities as recent examples of this cooperation.

Reuters had reported that Turkey’s intelligence service requested its British counterpart, MI6, last February to play a larger role in protecting Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa following a series of assassination attempts targeting him in recent months.

The agency reported on Friday, March 6, citing five informed sources, that the Turkish request comes as part of efforts by foreign allies to support stability in Syria about 15 months after the overthrow of former regime president Bashar al-Assad.

Reuters sources also indicated growing concerns over alleged Islamic State plots to assassinate al-Sharaa, as the group intensified attacks against military and security forces in various parts of Syria during February.

According to the agency, the group declared al-Sharaa its “primary enemy,” given his role in cooperating with the international coalition fighting the organization.

Intelligence coordination

A senior Syrian security source told Reuters that the Turkish request followed what he described as a “very serious assassination plot,” noting that Syrian, Turkish, and British security services exchange intelligence information continuously.

Damascus also announced on Thursday that it maintains direct coordination with Turkish intelligence, confirming that an Islamic State attack targeting the capital, Damascus, had been thwarted.

According to Turkish security sources, Turkish intelligence identified a three-person cell that was planning to carry out bombings using remotely detonated explosive devices, enabling Syrian authorities to prevent the attack before it was carried out.

Seeking Western presence in Damascus

The exact nature of the role Turkey reportedly requested from British intelligence remains unclear, and neither Ankara nor London has issued an official comment on the matter.

However, Western intelligence sources said the cooperation could involve intensified joint planning and technical operations, without any decision yet to deploy British personnel to Damascus.

One Western intelligence source suggested that Ankara may also be seeking to introduce a Western presence in Damascus that could create a “buffer space” between Turkish and Israeli intelligence services amid ongoing tensions between them.

Last year, Turkey, Britain, and the United States announced their support for al-Sharaa in his efforts to unify and rebuild Syria.

London and Washington also lifted most of the sanctions imposed on Syria and on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which had previously been led by al-Sharaa.

Assassination attempts against al-Sharaa

The Washington Post previously cited a United Nations report stating that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, Interior Minister Anas Khattab, and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani were targets of five thwarted assassination attempts during the past year.

According to the newspaper, on February 12 the information was based on a report prepared by the United Nations Office of Counter Terrorism and submitted by UN Secretary General António Guterres to the Security Council. The report addressed the ongoing threat posed by the Islamic State group in Syria.

The report said al-Sharaa was a primary target for the group, with attempts to target him in northern Aleppo governorate and another attempt in Daraa governorate in southern Syria.

These attempts were attributed, according to the report, to a group called Saraya Ansar al-Sunna, believed to be a front used by the Islamic State group to allow greater deniability and operational flexibility.

The report noted that these attempts reflect the group’s continued efforts to undermine the new Syrian government, taking advantage of security gaps in some areas despite the political shifts Syria has witnessed since late 2024.

The report did not provide exact dates for the assassination attempts or details about their nature or how they were foiled.

In a related context, Reuters previously reported that Syrian authorities had thwarted two separate Islamic State assassination attempts targeting al-Sharaa in recent months.

On November 10, 2025, the agency cited two sources it described as “senior,” one Syrian and another from a Middle Eastern country, saying that one of the attempts targeted a previously announced official event that al-Sharaa was expected to attend, without disclosing further details due to what they described as the sensitivity of the matter.

[Source: Enab Baladi English]