Türkiye Renews Support for Political Solution, Dialogue between Damascus, Syria Opposition

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan meets with the Syrian opposition delegation in Ankara. (Turkish Foreign Minister)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan meets with the Syrian opposition delegation in Ankara. (Turkish Foreign Minister)
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Türkiye Renews Support for Political Solution, Dialogue between Damascus, Syria Opposition

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan meets with the Syrian opposition delegation in Ankara. (Turkish Foreign Minister)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan meets with the Syrian opposition delegation in Ankara. (Turkish Foreign Minister)

Türkiye reiterated its commitment to a comprehensive political solution to the crisis in Syria, backing dialogue and negotiations between the Damascus regime and opposition.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held talks in Ankara on Thursday with leaders of the Syrian opposition.

The officials discussed the current developments in Syria and efforts to restore relations between Ankara and Damascus to the way they were before the eruption of the crisis in 2011.

In a post on the X platform, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Fidan met with head of the National Coalition for the Forces of the Revolution and Syrian Opposition Hadi al-Bahra, head of the negotiations committee Nader Jamous and Prime Minister of the interim government Abdulrahman Mustafa.

Fidan stressed to his guests Türkiye’s support for realistic and purposeful dialogue and negotiations that would pave the way for a comprehensive political solution based on United Nations Security Council resolution 2254.

The FM said last week that “reconciliation with the opposition is the Syrian government’s problem and duty.”

Türkiye encourages meetings between the government and opposition, but it cannot force the opposition to do so, he added.

“We want the government to sit with the opposition, assess the problems and kick off negotiations to reach a solution,” he remarked.

He stressed that it is “impossible” to ignore the opposition.

Russia, meanwhile, is intensifying its efforts for Türkiye and Syria to normalize relations.

Fidan met with the opposition days after Russian presidential envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev visited Ankara for talks on the Syrian crisis.

He met with deputy Turkish Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz on Saturday as part of consultations over Syria.

Lavrentiev had visited Damascus on June 26 for talks with President Bashar al-Assad. Talks covered restoring ties with Ankara back to the way they were before the crisis erupted.

Assad was receptive to the proposals to that end.



Polio Vaccination Starts in North Gaza Despite Obstacles

A medic administers a polio vaccine to a Palestinian girl at the al-Daraj neighborhood clinic in Gaza City on September 10, 2024. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A medic administers a polio vaccine to a Palestinian girl at the al-Daraj neighborhood clinic in Gaza City on September 10, 2024. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Polio Vaccination Starts in North Gaza Despite Obstacles

A medic administers a polio vaccine to a Palestinian girl at the al-Daraj neighborhood clinic in Gaza City on September 10, 2024. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A medic administers a polio vaccine to a Palestinian girl at the al-Daraj neighborhood clinic in Gaza City on September 10, 2024. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

A campaign to vaccinate a final 200,000 children in north Gaza against polio began on Tuesday although health and aid officials said the operation was complicated by access restrictions, evacuation orders and shortages of fuel.

The campaign in north Gaza, the part of the territory hardest hit by Israel's 11-month military offensive against Hamas militants, follows the vaccination of more than 446,000 Palestinian children in central and south Gaza earlier this month.

Medical staff had started administering vaccines in the north despite a dire need for fuel, among other challenges, said Dr. Moussa Abed of the primary care unit in Gaza's health ministry.
Vaccination centers are in areas that are militarily very active, difficult to reach and isolated if things go wrong, said Sam Rose, a deputy director of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
"There are some nerves, but we'll have to make it work," he told Reuters by text message.
On Monday, Israel stopped a convoy that included vehicles and fuel for the vaccination campaign as well as a World Health Organization team trying to get to Gaza's Al Shifa hospital and the mission had to be aborted, the WHO's Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in a briefing.
'EXTREMELY DIFFICULT'
Israel also issued an evacuation order in north Gaza, the first in more than two weeks, that included areas that are part of humanitarian pause zones agreed upon for the polio vaccinations, according to a UN update on Monday.
"The centralization of services in the south makes it extremely difficult for us to get fuel, to get access to vaccinations, and to all other logistics," Mahmoud Shalabi of Medical Aid for Palestinians, a UK-based charity, told Reuters via a spokesperson.
"There is still no fuel for the movement of vehicles for vaccination teams in the north."
The campaign to vaccinate some 640,000 children in Gaza began on Sept. 1, following confirmation by the WHO last month that a baby had been partially paralyzed by the type 2 polio virus, the first such case in the territory in 25 years.
The campaign in north Gaza aims to conclude a first vaccination round, with a second set to commence after a month.