Post-Assad Syria will never allow its territory to be used as a staging ground for threats against Turkey, its top diplomat said on January 16 after talks in Ankara. The commitment was a clear reference to Syrian Kurdish forces who,
The new administration’s first visit to Ankara comes amid an intensifying struggle for the partition of Syria between the states behind the overthrow of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by jihadists led by the al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
The pro-Ankara groups succeeded in capturing Kurdish-held Manbij city and Tal Rifaat in northern Aleppo province, despite US-led efforts to establish a truce in the Manbij area. The fighting has continued since, with hundreds of people killed, mostly fighters.
Syria's semi-autonomous Kurdish administration accused Turkey of killing four civilians in the Manbij area, where clashes have raged for weeks over control of a strategic dam.
On 11 January, the Syrian government reduced customs duties on goods from Arab countries by up to 60 percent, while increasing duties on Turkish imports by up to 300 percent, applying a uniform rate across all neighbouring countries. This decision has drawn criticism from Turkey’s business community.
Syria’s new government has strongly condemned Israel’s incursions into a U.N.-monitored buffer zone, urging the international community to pressure Israel into withdrawing.
Turkey has offered military assistance and capacity-building support to the new Syrian military to combat “terrorist groups”, during an unprecedented visit by a high-level Syrian delegation led by the new Syrian foreign minister to Ankara on Wednesday.
A rightist ally of President Erdogan, Devlet Bahceli of Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party, this week openly questioned Greece’s sovereignty over the islands of the southeastern Aegean. In so doing Mr. Bahceli challenges the provisions of international laws and agreements such as the 1923 Lausanne Treaty.
Turkey is ready to provide support to the new Syrian administration for the management of Islamic State camps in the country, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Wednesday. "As we have always said,
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Monday that eradication of the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria was "imminent", and that Ankara would not agree to any policy that allowed the YPG to maintain a presence there.
The liberation of Syria will benefit Türkiye and Syria alike, according to the country’s new foreign minister, Asaad al-Shaibani. “Türkiye
Turkish officials will tell U.S. Under Secretary of State John Bass during talks in Ankara this week that Syria needs to be rid of terrorist groups to achieve stability and security, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said on Thursday.