After Erdogan’s Elections Victory, Türkiye Holds Back on Assad Meeting

A view shows a roundabout with a sculpture featuring the Turkish flag and the Syrian opposition flag, in the opposition-held city of Azaz, Syria May 15, 2023.(Reuters)
A view shows a roundabout with a sculpture featuring the Turkish flag and the Syrian opposition flag, in the opposition-held city of Azaz, Syria May 15, 2023.(Reuters)
TT

After Erdogan’s Elections Victory, Türkiye Holds Back on Assad Meeting

A view shows a roundabout with a sculpture featuring the Turkish flag and the Syrian opposition flag, in the opposition-held city of Azaz, Syria May 15, 2023.(Reuters)
A view shows a roundabout with a sculpture featuring the Turkish flag and the Syrian opposition flag, in the opposition-held city of Azaz, Syria May 15, 2023.(Reuters)

Türkiye has slowed down the pace of its efforts to normalize ties with Syria.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has no plans to hold talks with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in the first presidential statement following Erdogan’s reelection for a third five-year term on Sunday.

"So far, there is no date for such a meeting... We need to see what steps the Syrian side will take," he said in a televised interview on Monday.

The foreign ministers of Türkiye, Russia, Syria and Iran had met in Moscow on May 10 to push forward normalization between Ankara and Damascus.

At the time, Turkish FM Mevlut Cavusoglu said intense efforts will be made to normalize relations, hinting that a meeting between Erdogan and Assad may be held this year.

The only obstacle to the meeting was the Turkish military deployment in northern Syria.

Assad had said that he would not meet his Turkish counterpart before the complete troop withdrawal.

For his part, Erdogan had stressed that Türkiye will not pull out its forces and that they would continue their mission to combat “terrorist organizations” - a reference to the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that Ankara views as an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Cavusoglu had warned that the withdrawal will allow such groups to fill the void left by the Turkish troops.



World Bank Looking to Free up Emergency Funds for Lebanon, Managing Director Says

 A plume of smoke billows following an Israeli air strike on the village of Khiam in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel on October 7, 2024. (AFP)
A plume of smoke billows following an Israeli air strike on the village of Khiam in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel on October 7, 2024. (AFP)
TT

World Bank Looking to Free up Emergency Funds for Lebanon, Managing Director Says

 A plume of smoke billows following an Israeli air strike on the village of Khiam in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel on October 7, 2024. (AFP)
A plume of smoke billows following an Israeli air strike on the village of Khiam in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel on October 7, 2024. (AFP)

The World Bank is looking to free up emergency funds for Lebanon, potentially including up to $100 million through the use of special clauses in existing loan deals, its managing director of operations told Reuters.

The Washington-based development lender currently has $1.65 billion in loans to the country including a $250 million loan approved this week to help connect dispersed renewable energy projects in the country.

Amid fighting across southern Lebanon, the bank was currently discussing ways in which it could help support the economy, including through the use of so-called Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERCs) clauses.

"We can use our existing portfolio and free up some money for really critical, short-term liquidity needs," Anna Bjerde said.

CERCs are present in around 600 of the bank's existing projects, globally, and allow it to redirect funds that have yet to be disbursed, if requested to by a government, for example after a health or natural disaster, or during conflict.

Lebanon has yet to make such a request, Bjerde said.

After a year of exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel mostly limited to the frontier region, the conflict has significantly escalated in Lebanon.

Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel's third largest city Haifa on Monday, while Israeli forces looked poised to expand ground raids into south Lebanon on the first anniversary of the Gaza war, which has spread conflict across the Middle East.

Lebanon's government could choose to use an existing social protection program that was put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic that allows for financial support to be sent to individuals, Bjerde said.

"It has the benefit of being totally digital so you can reach people, plus it can be verified a bit... so we will also probably use that to top up the social safety net for those that are particularly affected."

Up to 1 million people have been internally displaced in the country, she added: "So it's important we focus on that".

Lebanon's finance ministry and economy ministry did not immediately respond when asked for comment.