Türkiye, Syria defence ministers held the first high-ranking meeting in Moscow along with intelligence officers on December 29, Turkish Defence Ministry announced. The meeting was attended by Turkish Defence Minister Akar, Intelligence Chief Hakan Fidan, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Syrian Defence Minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas, along with Russian and Syrian intelligence chiefs. “Syrian
There has been no answer yet to the questions “where, when, or under what conditions will Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan meet Syrian President Bashar Assad.” Another question without an answer is whether Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, who accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of supporting the thwarted July 15, 2016 coup attempt through US-based
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reiterated Ankara’s determination to continue cross-border military operations into Syria and Iraq, hinting once more that a land incursion might follow ongoing air operations in his speech on November 23. “While we continue our air strikes without interruption, we will strike against terrorists from the ground at the most convenient
Turkish Ministry of National Defense announced that Turkish Air Force jets carried out a comprehensive operation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets in Syria and Iraq in the early hours of November 20. National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that the “Air Operation Claw-Sword” was carried out within the framework of “legitimate defense”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and US President Joe Biden met on the margins of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Bali, Indonesia, on November 15. The White House statement read that “President Biden expressed his deep condolences to President Erdoğan and People of Türkiye on the acts of violence in Istanbul and made clear that
President Tayyip Erdoğan’s statements last May brought the issue of reconciliation with Syria and the Bashar al Assad government to Türkiye’s agenda. The signals were so strong that many thought that a meeting with Syria at the Minister or the Deputy Minister level could be possible on the margins of the UN General Assembly in
The outlawed Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) organized a bombed attack on a police station in the Southern Province of Mersin on September 26, prompting further questions as the investigation unveils. The terrorist attack was prevented by 48-year-old police officer Sedat Gezer, who was shot and murdered during the clashes as two militants attempted to enter
Back-door diplomacy between Syria and Turkey has been accelerated, a Turkish newspaper columnist reported, adding that “one-to-one talks are being held”. “Recently, back door diplomacy between the Damascus Regime and Ankara has accelerated. Negotiations are taking place one after the other,” Hande Fırat, Hürriyet Newspaper columnist wrote on Sep. 20 in her op-ed. Fırat stated
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reiterated Ankara’s determination to follow a cross-border military operation into Syria, following statements from Russian, Iranian and American officials against it. “I declare to the whole world that our struggle will not end until we secure our southern borders with a 30 km deep corridor from one end to the
Turkey’s populist-driven foreign policies are coming back to bite us and Erdoğan’s government is unable to formulate solutions for the impasse they themselves created. This reality is especially urgent in Syria. Elections are coming up and one of the bigger determinants for voters is the economic and sociological costs of hosting 3.5 million Syrian refugees.