Turkey to help Syria with weapon systems, equipment under new accord, source says
Turkey, a NATO member, has been one of Syria's main foreign allies since the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad last year. It has vowed to help train and restructure Syria's armed forces, rebuild the country and its state institutions, and support efforts to protect Syrian territorial integrity.
In a first step towards a comprehensive military cooperation accord that they have been negotiating for months, Turkey and Syria inked a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday after extensive meetings between their foreign and defence ministers, and intelligence chiefs.
"The memorandum aims to coordinate, plan military training and cooperation, provide consultancy, information and experience sharing, ensure the procurement of military equipment, weapon systems, logistical materials and related services," the Turkish Defence Ministry source told reporters on Thursday.
Turkey has been growing impatient with what it calls the lack of implementation of a March deal between Damascus and the Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces for integrating the SDF into the Syrian state apparatus.
Ankara has warned of military action against the SDF, which it considers a terrorist organisation and against which it has carried out cross-border operations in the past.
It has said that clashes between the SDF and Syrian government forces earlier this month and a conference held by the SDF calling for a review of Syria's constitutional declaration threatened the country's territorial integrity.
The Turkish source said the SDF had not met any of the conditions of the March deal and reiterated Ankara's accusation that its actions were undermining Syria's political unity.
"Our expectation is full compliance with the agreement that was signed and its urgent implementation in the field," the source added.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Russian oil flows to Hungary and Slovakia halted after Ukrainian attack
BUDAPEST, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Russian crude oil flows to Hungary and Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline were halted on Monday, officials in Hungary and Slovakia said, with Budapest blaming a Ukrainian attack on a transformer station. Unlike most other EU countries, Hungary has kept up its reliance on Russian energy since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. It imports most of its crude via the Druzhba pipeline, which runs through Belarus and Ukraine to Hungary and also Slovakia. Szijjarto wrote on Facebook that he had talked to Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin who told him that experts were working to restore the transformer station, but it was unclear when deliveries would resume. "This latest strike against our energy security is outrageous and unacceptable," Szijjarto wrote. He did not say when or where the attack took place. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha neither confirmed nor denied the account of the attack, but wrote on X that Hungary "can now send complaints" to Moscow, not Kyiv. "It is Russia, not Ukraine, who began this war and refuses to end it. Hungary has been told for years that Moscow is an unreliable partner. Despite this, Hungary has made every effort to maintain its reliance on Russia," Sybiha wrote. Slovak pipeline operator Transpetrol confirmed that the supply of oil to Slovakia through the Druzhba pipeline had stopped. "Our company does not know more information about the reason for the suspension, which is outside the territory of the Slovak Republic. Oil transportation through Slovak territory is ensured and carried out in accordance with the pumping plan," the company said. Ukraine's defence ministry and armed forces, and Hungarian oil company MOL , did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Last year Szijjarto said the Druzhba pipeline would remain Hungary's primary route for crude oil imports. Monday's suspension of oil deliveries comes after a temporary halt last week when Ukraine's military said on August 13 that its drones had hit the Uniecha oil pumping station in Russia's Bryansk region.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Taiwan 'issue' is an internal matter, China says in response to Trump
BEIJING, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Taiwan is an internal matter for China, Beijing's foreign ministry said on Monday, in response to U.S. President Donald Trump saying Chinese President Xi Jinping told him he will not invade the island while Trump is in office. Trump made the comments in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow's war with Ukraine. Asked about Trump's remarks at a daily news briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory. "The Taiwan issue is purely an internal affair of China, and how to resolve the Taiwan issue is a matter for the Chinese people," she said. "We will do our utmost to strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification. But we will never allow anyone or any force to separate Taiwan from China in any way." China views Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to "reunify" with the democratic and separately governed island. Taiwan vehemently opposes China's sovereignty claims. On Sunday, in its response to what Trump had said, Taiwan's foreign ministry said it "always closely monitors interactions between senior officials from the United States and China". Taiwan will continue to work with countries that have "significant interests" in the Indo-Pacific region to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, the ministry added. The United States is Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier, despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties. China, which has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control, regularly describes Taiwan as the most important and sensitive topic in its relations with the United States.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Britain cancels extra border checks for animals ahead of UK-EU deal
LONDON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Britain is suspending the previously planned introduction of extra border checks on live animal imports from the European Union to ease trade ahead of the implementation of a deal agreed in May to reduce friction, the UK government said on Monday. Extra border checks on some animal and plant goods imported from Ireland will also be suspended. May's sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) deal, part of a wider reset in UK-EU relations, will reduce paperwork and remove routine border checks on plant and animal products moving between the UK and EU, while maintaining high food standards. However, the deal is yet to be implemented as details are still being negotiated. In the meantime, British traders must continue to comply with the terms of the UK's Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) that protect the country's biosecurity, including existing checks. The suspension of the introduction of additional border checks follows the announcement in June that checks on EU fruit and vegetable imports had been scrapped. A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs could not give a timeline for implementation of the SPS deal. When Britain left the EU's single market in 2021, the EU immediately enforced its rules, leading to port delays and prompting some British exporters to stop selling to the bloc. Britain was much slower implementing its post-Brexit border arrangements, and after repeated delays and confusion it started to set new rules in phases from January last year.
