Turkey could set up two air force bases in Syria's central desert region of Badiyah, use Syrian airspace for military purposes and take a lead role in training Syria's new army under the post-Assad administration that is trying to establish governance over the entirety of the country, according to a report published on February 4.

The report will fuel suspicions that the emerging administration in Damascus is very much under the direction of Turkey’s Erdogan administration. Prior to starting his second stint in the White House, Donald Trump asserted that it was “Turkey’s people” that mounted the offensive that caused the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in early December. Ankara denied that was the case.

Speculation mounted as to Turkey’s possible intentions in the “new Syria” on February 4 as Syria's transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former jihadist commander, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in the Turkish capital.

Turkey as chief ally to the Sharaa administration is in many respects playing the role that Iran served as the main foreign backer of the Syrian Arab Republic under Assad. Its intentions for the country, plagued by a multi-sided war over 13 years from 2011, could trigger concern not only in Iran but in Israel and among the Gulf Arab states.

The report looking at Turkey’s objectives was issued by Reuters after it spoke on condition of anonymity to a Syrian security official, two Damascus-based foreign security sources and a senior regional intelligence official.

Syria's new leadership, formed by fighters from Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a jihadist militia that grew in northern Syria on Turkey’s doorstep under Ankara’s patronage, is working on integrating various fighting groups in Syria into a new military command.

The regional intelligence official, the Syrian security official and one of the Damascus-based foreign security sources were reported as saying by the news agency that the talks between Sharaa and Erdogan would include creating two Turkish bases in Badiyah, a vast region.

An official in Syria's presidency, meanwhile, told Reuters that Sharaa would discuss Turkey's "training of the new Syrian army, as well as new areas of deployment and cooperation" with Erdogan, but did not specify deployment locations.

After his talks with Sharaa, Erdogan said he and his counterpart discussed steps to be taken against Kurdish militants in northeast Syria. The militants are allied with the US in the fight against Islamic State remnants in Syria, but at the same time Turkey insists they are “terrorists” that cannot have a legitimate presence in Syria.

Erdogan added that Turkey would continue to lobby for the lifting of international sanctions imposed on Syria during Assad's rule, saying that it was important that Arab and Muslim countries back the new Damascus government, both financially and otherwise, as Syria goes through its period of transition.

For his part, Sharaa said his government is minded to form a "strategic partnership" with Turkey. He invited Erdogan to visit Damascus in the near future.

"We are working on building a strategic partnership with Turkey to confront the security threats in the region to guarantee permanent security and stability to Syria and Turkey," Sharaa said.

Turkish construction companies are confident they are in line for a huge windfall from taking part in the post-war reconstruction of Syria.

The director general of Turkey’s largest bank, Ziraat Bank, said on February 4 that the lender is “in close communication with the public authority” regarding the opening of a new branch in Syria.