Latest news with #terörizm
Asharq Al-Awsat
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Erdogan Says Won't Let Terror 'Drag Syria Back to Instability'
Türkiye will not allow extremists to drag Syria back into chaos and instability, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday after a suicide attack killed 22 at a Damascus church. "We will never allow our neighbor and brother Syria... be dragged into a new environment of instability through proxy terrorist organizations," he said, vowing to support the new government's fight against such groups. He did not explain what he meant by "proxy" groups but vowed that Türkiye would "continue to support the Syrian government's fight against terrorism", AFP reported. The Damascus government blamed Sunday night's shooting and suicide attack -- the first of its kind in the Syrian capital since the fall of strongman Bashar al-Assad six months ago -- on ISIS militants. It cast the attack as a bid to "undermine national coexistence and to destabilize the country", which only began emerging from the post-civil war chaos after Assad's ouster six months ago. Türkiye was a key backer of the HTS who ousted Assad under the leadership of Ahmed al-Sharaa, now the interim president, and has repeatedly offered its operational and military to fight ISIS and other militant threats.
Asharq Al-Awsat
09-05-2025
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Türkiye and Iraq Reaffirm Commitment to Work Against Kurdish Militants, Other Security Threats
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening security cooperation on Thursday, vowing to work against threats, including Kurdish militants based on Iraqi territory. Al-Sudani arrived in Türkiye as the neighboring countries are working to enhance cooperation and mend past tensions. Relations between Türkiye and Iraq were often strained over Turkish military incursions into northern Iraq for operations against the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and the establishment of Turkish military bases there. Baghdad frequently condemned the incursions as a violation of its sovereignty, while Ankara accused Iraq of not doing enough to fight the PKK. More recently, however, the two countries have deepened cooperation on security, including addressing the PKK presence in northern Iraq. Last year, Iraq announced that the Iraqi National Security Council had issued a ban on the PKK, although it stopped short of designating it as a terrorist organization. Erdogan said the two "reaffirmed our determination" to fight against the Kurdish militants, the ISIS group and against members of network that Türkiye accuses of being behind a failed military coup in 2016. "We once again emphasized that terrorism has no place in the future of our region," Erdogan said. Al-Sudani said: "What affects Iraq's security affects Türkiye's security and vice versa." "According to our constitution, we do not allow any group to use Iraqi territory to attack neighboring countries," he said. Erdogan also named former minister Veysel Eroglu as his special envoy to Iraq. On Thursday, officials inked 11 agreements, including in trade and defense, to advance cooperation between the two countries. Erdogan stressed the urgency of resuming oil shipments through an Iraqi-Turkish pipeline. The oil pipeline running from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region to Türkiye has been shut down since March 2023, after an arbitration court ruling ordered Ankara to pay Iraq $1.5 billion for oil exports that bypassed Iraq's central government in Baghdad. The sharing of oil and gas revenues has long been a contentious issue between Baghdad and Kurdish authorities in Erbil. Al-Sudani said water supplies to Iraq were also discussed. He said committees were continuing meetings to agree on mechanisms for water management projects. "We emphasized the need for a fair understanding that respects the interests of both sides, in accordance with principles of equity and good neighborliness," the prime minister said. In recent years, Iraqi officials have complained that dams built by Türkiye are reducing Iraq's water supply. The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which provide most of Iraq's fresh water, originate in Türkiye. Experts fear that climate change is likely to exacerbate existing water shortages in Iraq. "Our position is that water levels in the dams are at a minimum, and at the same time, Iraq has received very little rainfall this year," al-Sudani said. The two also discussed steps to rapidly implement The Development Road Project - a large-scale infrastructure plan to connect the Arabian Gulf with Türkiye by constructing highways and rail links from southern Iraq to the Turkish border. The Iraqi prime minister's visit comes after the PKK's jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan, called on his group to dissolve and disarm as part of a new peace initiative with Türkiye. The group declared a unilateral ceasefire in March and is now expected to hold a congress in northern Iraq, during which it would announce its dissolution, Turkish officials have said. The PKK, which has maintained bases in northern Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region, has fought Türkiye for an autonomous Kurdish state. The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives since the 1980s. Türkiye and its Western allies have designated the PKK a terrorist organization. Al-Sudani said: "We welcome the political process and the disarmament path concerning the PKK."
