Erdogan meets Syrian interim president, soon after US sanction relief
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Istanbul on Saturday.
The meeting came soon after the US President Donald Trump's administration eased sanctions on Syria.
The US said on Friday it had issued a general license that allows activities previously prohibited under the sanctions. New investment in Syria and transactions with the country's transitional government are now allowed.
The Turkish presidential office said Erdogan welcomed the de facto Syrian leader's visit and stressed that Turkey will strengthen cooperation with Syria, especially in the field of energy.
Turkey is apparently trying to step up economic engagement in Syria.
Syria's economy has been under strain due to years of internal conflict since 2011, and rebuilding it is a major challenge. The interim government had repeatedly called on Western nations to lift sanctions which had been imposed on the Bashar al-Assad regime.
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Japan Times
3 days ago
- Japan Times
Ukraine officials visit U.S., accuse Russia of stalling peace efforts
Senior Ukrainian officials visited Washington on Tuesday to seek U.S. support against Russia while accusing Moscow of dragging its feet at peace talks. Kyiv showed its ability to continue fighting by setting off an explosive device under a bridge that has become a symbol of the Kremlin's claims on Ukrainian territory. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Russian artillery strike killed four people in the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy, an area where Russian forces have been making advances. Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, writing on Telegram after meeting U.S. Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg, accused Russia of "playing for time, manipulating the talks, trying to avoid U.S. sanctions and not wanting a ceasefire." Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha was more blunt, saying Russia had ignored a request to comment on Ukraine's proposals at Monday's second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul. "We demand Russia's reply. Each day of silence from them proves their wish to continue the war," Sybiha wrote on social media. Russia, he said, had "passed a set of old ultimatums that do not move the situation any closer to true peace." Yermak, in the United States with Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, also said he briefed U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff "on the real situation on the battlefield" and invited him to visit Ukraine "to witness the situation firsthand." "We need a ceasefire — we have fully supported the U.S. proposal on this since March. We are also ready for a leaders' meeting, which Russia continues to avoid," he said. A U.S. official said Yermak was scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday. Yermak said officials would also discuss a deal that gives the U.S. preferential access to new Ukrainian mineral projects and sets up an investment fund that could be used for reconstruction. Emergency service members work at the site where Russian drones damaged several private houses, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on Sunday. | REUTERS Monday's talks in Istanbul made little headway toward ending Russia's war in Ukraine, apart from an exchange of proposals and an undertaking to conduct a new large-scale swap of prisoners of war. Moscow has responded to accusations of foot-dragging by saying Ukraine is not making a genuine effort to seek peace. At the talks, Russia told Ukraine it would agree to end the war only if Kyiv gives up big new chunks of territory and accepts limits on the size of its army. Ukraine rejects the Russian conditions as tantamount to surrender. "The (peace) settlement theme is extremely complex, it consists of a large number of nuances...," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, adding that "it would be wrong to expect any immediate solutions and breakthroughs here." It was not clear what would be the next step in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, but Moscow said early on Wednesday that Istanbul will remain the venue for future talks. Kyiv launched in recent days what appeared to be one of its biggest waves of coordinated attacks of the conflict. Ukraine's SBU security service said it had hit a road and rail bridge that links Russia and Crimea below the water level with explosives. The extent of any damage was not clear and Russian officials later said vehicle traffic had resumed. The bridge is a flagship project for Russian President Vladimir Putin, built after he annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, a precursor to the latest conflict. Russian officials also announced that emergency crews had restored power to some 700,000 customers in Russian-controlled areas of southern Ukraine — in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions — after drones and shelling had knocked out substations and other infrastructure. Ukraine's attack on Russian-occupied territory in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions followed multiple Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure that have at times left millions of Ukrainians without power. The latest attacks followed drone strikes over the weekend on Russian military airfields, some of which housed long-range nuclear-capable bombers. Ukraine's success in striking deep into Russia has prompted calls by some Russian military bloggers for a harsh response. Zelenskyy denounced the Russian military strike on Sumy, describing the incident as: "all one needs to know about the Russian wish to end this war." He also announced a military shakeup, including the appointment to a new post of a commander who resigned over a deadly Russian attack on a training area. Zelenskyy, speaking in his nightly video address after a meeting of top commanders, said the reshuffle sought to ensure that the military remained focused on combat more than three years after Russia's invasion of its smaller neighbor.
Japan Times
4 days ago
- Japan Times
Tough residency rules, Chinese competition squeeze Istanbul's 'suitcase trade'
Porters roam the narrow streets of Laleli in central Istanbul carrying parcels ready for shipment to customers all over the world. The maze of alleys that lead down to the Sea of Marmara have long been the center of the "suitcase trade" to sub-Saharan Africa, a route through which merchants carry goods back and forth in their baggage. But Laleli's informal shipping scene, once a bustling hub of cross-continental trade, is now facing growing pressure from rising costs and tougher residency rules imposed by Turkish authorities. African traders, who helped drive demand for Turkish goods through the kargo system — small-scale shipping services between Turkish wholesalers and buyers across Africa — say business has slumped, even as official export figures continue to rise. Facing pressure While some still make round trips, most trade now moves through shipping services. For agents like Fadil Bayero — a Cameroonian who runs a kargo business that ships clothing, cosmetics and home textiles from Turkey to clients across Africa — business is slow. Turkish products have a very good reputation in Africa, he said. "Before this room was filled to the ceiling. Today it is half-empty," the 39-year-old said. Like many Africans in the neighborhood, he claimed that shipments have dropped, even as Turkish exports to Africa have generally soared — from $11.5 billion in 2017 to $19.4 billion last year. Turkish textiles, once known for their affordability, have grown more expensive in recent years. Merchants say inflation — above 35% since late 2021 — has pushed African buyers toward cheaper suppliers in China and Egypt. But for Bayero, the explanation lies elsewhere. "It's not inflation that's the problem, it's the arrests. Many people have been deported," he said. 'Everything is empty' Since 2022, Turkey's migration policy has toughened, with the authorities blocking new residence permit applications in several districts of Istanbul, including Fatih, where Laleli is located. The goal is to limit the proportion of foreigners to 20% per neighborhood. "The stores, the streets, everything is empty now," said Franck, one of Bayero's colleagues. "Look out the window — the sellers sit all day drinking tea while waiting for customers." A few streets away, Shamsu Abdullahi examined his spreadsheets. In his dimly lit room, dozens of bundles are stacked on the white tiled floor, awaiting shipment. Since January, he and his two colleagues have shipped over 20 tons of goods by air freight and filled the equivalent of 15 maritime containers. The Nigerian has also made around 15 round trips to his homeland, bringing 80 kilograms of goods with him on each journey. "My residence permit expires in two months, and I think the authorities won't renew it," he said. He and his associates generate over €1 million a year in revenue. "It's money spent in Turkey that fuels the local economy," he said. 'Golden age' Historian Issouf Binate, a lecturer at Alassane Ouattara University in the Ivory Coast, said much of the trade is informal, making it hard to track. "It's difficult to provide figures on the volume of Turkey's exports to Africa because many businesses are informal," he said. Kargos are "transitional businesses," with improvised activity shared between friends or family members. Many in Laleli now believe that the golden age of the kargo and suitcase trading is over. "In one year we went from about three tons of shipments per week to 1.5," said a young Congolese who has lived in Istanbul for five years and asked not to be named. "Even if we still manage to find low-cost products, we cannot compete with China," he added. Arslan Arslan, a Turkish merchant who sells African dresses a few meters away, painted the same picture. "Before, I had customers from morning to evening ... but the authorities sent them back." Now Arslan searches for his African customers on social media. "I'm on Telegram, Instagram, Facebook. But here, everything has become expensive," he said. "I've lost 70% of my revenue in a year."
Japan Times
4 days ago
- Japan Times
Russia sets out punitive terms at peace talks with Ukraine
Russia told Ukraine at peace talks on Monday that it would only agree to end the war if Kyiv gives up big new chunks of territory and accepts limits on the size of its army, according to a memorandum reported by Russian media. The terms, formally presented at negotiations in Istanbul, highlighted Moscow's refusal to compromise on its longstanding war goals despite calls by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the "bloodbath" in Ukraine. Ukraine has repeatedly rejected the Russian conditions as tantamount to surrender. Delegations from the warring sides met for barely an hour, for only the second such round of negotiations since March 2022. They agreed to exchange more prisoners of war — focusing on the youngest and most severely wounded — and return the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan described it as a great meeting and said he hoped to bring together Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a meeting in Turkey with Trump. But there was no breakthrough on a proposed ceasefire that Ukraine, its European allies and Washington have all urged Russia to accept. Moscow says it seeks a long-term settlement, not a pause in the war; Kyiv says Putin is not interested in peace. Trump has said the United States is ready to walk away from its mediation efforts unless the two sides demonstrate progress toward a deal. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who headed Kyiv's delegation, said Kyiv — which has drawn up its own peace roadmap — would review the Russian document, on which he offered no immediate comment. Ukraine has proposed holding more talks before the end of June but believes only a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin can resolve the many issues of contention, Umerov said. Zelenskyy said Ukraine presented a list of 400 children it says have been abducted to Russia, but that the Russian delegation agreed to work on returning only 10 of them. Russia says the children were moved from war zones to protect them. Russian demands The Russian memorandum, which was published by the Interfax news agency, said a settlement of the war would require international recognition of Crimea — a peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014 — and four other regions of Ukraine that Moscow has claimed as its own territory. Ukraine would have to withdraw its forces from all of them. It restated Moscow's demands that Ukraine become a neutral country — ruling out membership of NATO — and that it protect the rights of Russian speakers, make Russian an official language and enact a legal ban on the glorification of Nazism. Ukraine rejects the Nazi charge as absurd and denies discriminating against Russian speakers. Russia also formalized its terms for any ceasefire en route to a peace settlement, presenting two options that both appeared to be nonstarters for Ukraine. Option one, according to the text, was for Ukraine to start a full military withdrawal from the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. Of those, Russia fully controls the first but holds only about 70% of the rest. Medinsky delivers a statement to the press after a second round of direct talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul on Monday. | AFP-JIJI Option two was a package that would require Ukraine to cease military redeployments and accept a halt to foreign provision of military aid, satellite communications and intelligence. Kyiv would also have to lift martial law and hold presidential and parliamentary elections within 100 days. Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky said Moscow had also suggested a "specific ceasefire of two to three days in certain sections of the front" so that the bodies of dead soldiers could be collected. According to a proposed roadmap drawn up by Ukraine, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, Kyiv wants no restrictions on its military strength after any peace deal, no international recognition of Russian sovereignty over parts of Ukraine taken by Moscow's forces, and reparations. Ukraine targets Russian bomber fleet The conflict has been heating up, with Russia launching its biggest drone attacks of the war and advancing on the battlefield in May at its fastest rate in six months. On Sunday, Ukraine said it launched 117 drones in an operation codenamed "Spider's Web" to attack Russian nuclear-capable long-range bomber planes at airfields in Siberia and the far north of the country. Satellite imagery suggested the attacks had caused substantial damage, although the two sides gave conflicting accounts of the extent of it. Western military analysts described the strikes, thousands of miles from the front lines, as one of the most audacious Ukrainian operations of the war. Russia's strategic bomber fleet forms part of the "triad" of forces — along with missiles launched from the ground or from submarines — that make up the country's nuclear arsenal, the biggest in the world. Faced with repeated warnings from Putin of Russia's nuclear might, the U.S. and its allies have been wary throughout the Ukraine conflict of the risk that it could spiral into World War III. A current U.S. administration official said Trump and the White House were not notified before the attack. A former administration official said Ukraine, for operational security reasons, regularly does not disclose to Washington its plans for such actions. A U.K. government official said the British government also was not told ahead of time. Zelenskyy said the operation, which involved drones concealed inside wooden sheds, had helped to restore partners' confidence that Ukraine is able to continue waging the war. "Ukraine says that we are not going to surrender and are not going to give in to any ultimatums," he told an online news briefing. "But we do not want to fight, we do not want to demonstrate our strength — we demonstrate it because the enemy does not want to stop."
