Yeniçağ newspaper Ankara Representative Ahmet Takan wrote that there would be many resignations from the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF or TSK) after the losses in Al Bab. Takan also underlined that ISIS is in possession of Turkish-made weapons and admitted that the soldiers in Al Bab are those who committed the massacres in Kurdish cities.

Takan wrote, “I won’t go into technical detail on which units our valiant soldiers who fight in Al Bab are from. They are all very well trained and elite heroes. They set off with a “Bismillah” on the day the residential area operations launched in Sur, Diyarbakır. Then they went to Silopi, Cizre, Şırnak... They said ‘we will enter Syria’.”

Takan stated that he talked to an officer and heard the following: “ISIS has all kinds of weapons except for planes. Weapons made in the US, Russia, and even Turkey. They have underground containers.”

Takan also said they were having trouble providing soldiers for the units, that the morale and motivation of the soldiers were down, and added:

“In TAF corridors, there is talk that there will be many resignations among the officers and petty officers starting in January, and even from among the Maroon Berets.”