PoliticsErdogan offers Syria help in the fight against "terrorism"
SDA
4.2.2025 - 19:59
FILED - Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the G7 summit in Italy. Photo: -
Keystone
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has offered Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa cooperation in the fight against "terrorism" in Syria. "We are ready to provide Syria with the necessary support in the fight against all forms of terrorism," Erdogan said after a meeting with al-Sharaa in Ankara. Erdogan's comments are a hint at a hoped-for military cooperation with the new Syrian rulers in the fight against Kurdish forces in the north-east of the country.
Keystone-SDA
04.02.2025, 19:59
SDA
Erdogan explicitly mentioned the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia and the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), which Turkey believes has links to the Kurdish militias in north-eastern Syria. Turkey has carried out several military operations against the Kurdish militia YPG and is occupying areas near the Syrian-Turkish border with the support of militias. He had discussed with al-Sharaa "measures against the separatist terrorist organization and its supporters who are occupying north-eastern Syria", Erdogan said.
Second trip abroad by the Syrian interim president
Al-Sharaa only said that he had spoken to Erdogan about the situation in north-eastern Syria. "Relations between Syria and Turkey are historic," said al-Sharaa, who was making his second official trip abroad as interim president after a visit to Saudi Arabia. For his part, he invited Erdogan to visit Syria.
The overthrow of Syria's long-term ruler Bashar al-Assad by a rebel alliance led by Islamists has significantly increased Turkey's influence in Syria.
Since the overthrow in December, Kurdish militias and Turkish-backed fighters have been fighting deadly battles in north-eastern Syria, including at the strategically important Tishrin Dam. There were some reports that fighters from the transitional government were supporting the Turkish-affiliated militias. A spokesperson for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) rejected this as false and said that no transitional government troops were currently deployed there.