Türkiye Insists on Restoring Relations with Syria amid US Objection

Erdogan stressed that the situation in the region requires new foreign policy equations (Turkish Presidency)
Erdogan stressed that the situation in the region requires new foreign policy equations (Turkish Presidency)
TT
20

Türkiye Insists on Restoring Relations with Syria amid US Objection

Erdogan stressed that the situation in the region requires new foreign policy equations (Turkish Presidency)
Erdogan stressed that the situation in the region requires new foreign policy equations (Turkish Presidency)

Türkiye has conveyed new messages about maintaining efforts to restore normal ties with Syria, despite Damascus’ insistence on the Turkish military withdrawal, which currently seems to be far-fetched.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had intensified talk about this matter in recent weeks, ordering the fulfillment of the Syrian demand, and stressing that his country attaches great importance to increasing the number of its friends.
This came a day after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announced that he would not oppose meeting with the Turkish president.
“In a period when our region is constantly on edge, establishing new equations in foreign policy is not just a choice but a necessity for Türkiye,” Erdogan said in his address after the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday evening.
He stressed that he could not allow anyone to confine Türkiye within “their narrow molds,” adding: “We neither turn our back on the East for the West nor neglect the West for the East.”
He continued: “We advance our relations with everyone, starting from our neighbors, in line with the interests of our country.”
Everyone must understand that increasing regional cooperation and solidarity will strengthen resilience against growing threats, the Turkish president underlined, adding: “Otherwise, we cannot prevent our region’s borders from being redrawn with bloodshed and tears as they were a century ago.”
He said that Türkiye sincerely hopes for the resolution of conflicts through mutual dialogue at the negotiation table.
In the same context, Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Guler stressed that his country does not set its sights on anyone’s land or sovereign rights, and that Ankara’s battle is against terrorist organizations that harm peace and prosperity in the region.
During a meeting with the commanders of the armed forces, Guler said: “We are closely following developments in Syria, and I would like to remind you that the fate of Syria will be determined by its people, not those who rejoice in their sadness.”
Meanwhile, the United States announced that it does not support Türkiye’s efforts to normalize relations with Assad, stressing that these attempts will not yield results.
On Wednesday, Turkish media quoted a US State Department spokesman as saying that the United States’ position is clear and that it does not accept the normalization of ties with the Assad government without taking serious steps to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis.

 

 



Iraq's Kurdish Oil Exports Restart is Not Imminent

An oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo: Kurdistan government media/AFP
An oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo: Kurdistan government media/AFP
TT
20

Iraq's Kurdish Oil Exports Restart is Not Imminent

An oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo: Kurdistan government media/AFP
An oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo: Kurdistan government media/AFP

A restart of Iraq's Kurdish oil exports is not imminent, sources close to the matter said on Friday, despite Iraq's federal government saying on Thursday that shipments would resume immediately.

Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government have been in negotiations since February to end a stand-off that has halted flows from the north of the country to Türkiye's port of Ceyhan. The KRG was producing about 435,000 barrels per day (bpd) before the pipeline closure in March 2023, Reuters reported.

On Thursday the federal government said that Iraqi Kurdistan would resume oil exports immediately through the pipeline to Türkiye's despite drone attacks that have shut down half of the region's output.

But on Friday a source at APIKUR, a group of oil companies working in Kurdistan, said that a restart depended on the receipt of written agreements. Another at KAR Group, which operates the pipeline, said that no preparations had been made for a restart.

Baghdad and the companies have not yet agreed how to restart the exports, a KRG government source said, while a source at Türkiye's Ceyhan said there was also no preparation at the terminal for a restart of flows.

On Thursday, a statement from KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said the government had approved a joint understanding with the federal government and it was awaiting financial details.

Similar agreements in the past failed to secure a resumption in exports and it remains unclear if this deal will succeed.

Oil companies working in Kurdistan have previously demanded that their production-sharing contracts should remain unchanged and their debts of nearly $1 billion be settled under any agreement.

Oilfields in Iraqi Kurdistan have been attacked by drones this week, with officials pointing to Iran-backed militias as the likely source of the attacks, although no group has claimed responsibility.

They are the first such attacks on oilfields in the region and coincide with the first attacks in seven months on shipping in the Red Sea by Iran-aligned Houthi militants in Yemen.

On Thursday a strike hit an oilfield operated by Norway's DNO in Tawke, the region's counter-terrorism service said.

It was the week's second strike on a site operated by DNO, which operates the Tawke and Peshkabour oilfields in the Zakho area that borders Türkiye.

No casualties have been reported, but oil output in the region has been cut by between 140,000 bpd and 150,000 bpd, two energy officials said.