President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said efforts against terrorist organizations in Syria’s Idlib will continue. “Our joint fight against terrorist organizations in Syria's Idlib will continue,” Erdogan said in a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Last September, following a meeting between Erdogan and Putin, the two sides agreed to set up a demilitarized zone in Idlib, Syria. Under the deal, opposition groups in Idlib are to remain in areas where they are already present, while Russia and Turkey conduct joint patrols in the area to...
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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan voiced solidarity with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro early Thursday after Washington recognized opposition-controlled National Assembly's President Juan Guaido as interim president. Erdogan said: “Maduro brother, stand tall, Turkey stands with you, Erdogan tells President Nicolas Maduro by telephone,” according to Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin's on Twitter. Kalin shared the #WeAreMADURO hashtag to show solidarity on Twitter. U.S. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday support for Guaido. Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has slammed the decision and said his country was cutting off diplomatic relations with the U.S., giving American...
“Syria’s territorial integrity and political stability are key priorities for Turkey. We will continue to work toward those goals.” Presidency’s Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said. Altun posted tweets on his official Twitter account regarding President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Russia visit. Presidency’s Communications Director Altun said Erdoğan would be in Moscow today to holds talks on regional issues, including the most recent developments in Syria, and the Turkish-Russian relations with President Putin. Noting that Turkey wasn't just fighting all forms of terrorism in Syria, Altun said the country...
The Syrian civil war has been the main point of contention in Turkey's relations with the United States ever since the Obama administration officially outsourced much of the fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group to the People's Protection Units (YPG) in 2015. The way Obama chose to deal with the ISIL threat in Syria was a source of concern for Turkey for three reasons. First, the YPG is the Syrian affiliate of the armed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a terror group which has waged a bloody war in Turkey...
The U.S. must work with Turkey to implement the Manbij roadmap without further delay, said Turkey’s presidential communications director. The Manbij deal between Turkey and the U.S. focuses on the withdrawal of PYD/YPG terrorists from the city to stabilize the region, which is in the northeast of northern Syria's Aleppo province. Turkish and U.S. troops began joint patrols in Manbij at the beginning of November. "There are some steps that the U.S. can take to alleviate the situation in Syria," Fahrettin Altun said in an article penned for Al Jazeera on Wednesday. ...
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held their first face-to-face meeting of 2019 on Wednesday. The meeting in the Russian capital Moscow was close to press and lasted one hour and 50 minutes. Erdogan and Putin will hold a joint news conference following the meeting between the delegations of the two countries. Earlier, Erdogan along with his several Cabinet members and other officials arrived in Moscow for a daylong visit. "Dear Mr. President, very glad to see you in Moscow. We continue our practice of regular meetings, consultations, exchange of views. I would like to note...
Ankara will never allow a safe zone in Syria to be transformed into "another swamp" against Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday. "We can never allow an implementation of a safe zone [to be established in northern Syria] to be transformed into another swamp against our country," Erdogan said at a meeting of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) in the capital Ankara. Erdogan said Ankara was not against the formation of a 30-kilometer (20-mile) safe zone in northern Syria near Turkey’s border, adding the...
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are set to have their first face-to-face meeting of 2019 on Wednesday. During Erdogan's one-day working visit to the Russian capital Moscow, the two leaders will exchange views on regional and international issues, particularly Syria, as well as bilateral relations between Turkey and Russia. Prior to his visit, an article penned by Erdogan titled "Turkey-Russia cooperation, critical for resolving the crisis in Syria" was published on Russian daily Kommersant last week. "We will not seek advice on how to deal with a terrorist group from anyone whose activities have been...
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has extended condolences to his Afghan counterpart over a suicide car bombing attack on Monday, according to presidential sources. “I condemn this hateful terrorist attack,” Erdogan told President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani in a condolences message over the attack in central Afghanistan, the source said, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media. “I repeat once again that Turkey is with the the friendly and brotherly Afghanistan in its fight against terrorism,” he added. Erdogan also wished a quick recovery to the injured. Earlier on Monday, at...