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Assad Says Efforts to Restore Ties with Türkiye Have Yielded No Results

File photo of a previous meeting between Bashar Assad and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Damascus in May 2008 (The AP)
File photo of a previous meeting between Bashar Assad and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Damascus in May 2008 (The AP)
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Assad Says Efforts to Restore Ties with Türkiye Have Yielded No Results

File photo of a previous meeting between Bashar Assad and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Damascus in May 2008 (The AP)
File photo of a previous meeting between Bashar Assad and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Damascus in May 2008 (The AP)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Sunday that efforts to mend ties with Türkiye had so far brought no tangible results.

"The initiatives did not yield any results worth mentioning despite the seriousness and genuine keenness of mediators," Assad said in a speech to the Syrian parliament, referring to conciliation efforts by Russia, Iran and Iraq.

Türkiye severed ties with Syria in 2011 after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, in which it supported opposition seeking to oust Assad. Assad views the opposition as terrorists, according to Reuters.

"The solution is openness," Assad said. "Restoring a relationship requires first removing the causes that led to its destruction."

The Syrian president made clear that while he wants Turkish troops to withdraw from Syria, that was not a precondition for talks.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said earlier in July he would extend an invitation to Assad "any time" for possible talks to restore relations.

A Turkish newspaper earlier reported Erdogan and Assad could meet in August, but a Turkish diplomat denied the report.

Russia has been trying to facilitate a meeting between the two leaders in an effort to restore ties. Iraq also said in July that it may seek to try to bring the two leaders together.

 

 

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Arab World

Lebanon PM Says Won’t Allow Country to Be Dragged into New Conflict

Smoke and flames rise from a building after an Israeli airstrike in Ain Qana village, in southern Lebanon, 02 February 2026. (EPA)
Smoke and flames rise from a building after an Israeli airstrike in Ain Qana village, in southern Lebanon, 02 February 2026. (EPA)
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Lebanon PM Says Won’t Allow Country to Be Dragged into New Conflict

Smoke and flames rise from a building after an Israeli airstrike in Ain Qana village, in southern Lebanon, 02 February 2026. (EPA)
Smoke and flames rise from a building after an Israeli airstrike in Ain Qana village, in southern Lebanon, 02 February 2026. (EPA)

Lebanon's prime minister said Tuesday he will not allow his country to be dragged into a new conflict, after Hezbollah warned any attack on its Iranian backer would be an attack on the group.

"We will never allow anyone to drag the country into another adventure," Nawaf Salam said during the World Governments Summit in Dubai, in response to a question about comments made by Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem last week.

Qassem had responded to American threats of military action against Iran, saying: "We will choose at that time how to act... but we are not neutral."

Salam said Hezbollah's decision to enter the Gaza war in support of its ally Hamas had "very big" consequences for Lebanon and that "no one is willing to expose the country to adventures of this kind".

Arab World

Syria Kurds Impose Curfew in Qamishli Ahead of Govt Forces Entry

02 February 2026, Syria, Saran: Syrian internal security forces are preparing near the village of Saran to enter the Kobane region northeast of Aleppo, following an agreement between the SDF and the Syrian government stipulating the entry of a number of Syrian security forces into the cities of Hasakeh, Qamishli, and Kobane to take over government institutions. (dpa)
02 February 2026, Syria, Saran: Syrian internal security forces are preparing near the village of Saran to enter the Kobane region northeast of Aleppo, following an agreement between the SDF and the Syrian government stipulating the entry of a number of Syrian security forces into the cities of Hasakeh, Qamishli, and Kobane to take over government institutions. (dpa)
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Syria Kurds Impose Curfew in Qamishli Ahead of Govt Forces Entry

02 February 2026, Syria, Saran: Syrian internal security forces are preparing near the village of Saran to enter the Kobane region northeast of Aleppo, following an agreement between the SDF and the Syrian government stipulating the entry of a number of Syrian security forces into the cities of Hasakeh, Qamishli, and Kobane to take over government institutions. (dpa)
02 February 2026, Syria, Saran: Syrian internal security forces are preparing near the village of Saran to enter the Kobane region northeast of Aleppo, following an agreement between the SDF and the Syrian government stipulating the entry of a number of Syrian security forces into the cities of Hasakeh, Qamishli, and Kobane to take over government institutions. (dpa)

Kurdish forces imposed a curfew on Kurdish-majority Qamishli in northeastern Syria on Tuesday, ahead of the deployment of government troops to the city, an AFP team reported.

The curfew came after Syrian security personnel entered the mixed Kurdish-Arab city of Hasakeh and the countryside around the Kurdish town of Kobane on Monday, as part of a comprehensive agreement to gradually integrate the Kurds' military and civilian institutions into the state.

The Kurds had ceded territory to advancing government forces in recent weeks.

An AFP correspondent saw Kurdish security forces deployed in Qamishli and found the streets empty of civilians and shops closed after the curfew came into effect early on Tuesday.

It will remain in force until 6:00 am (0300 GMT) on Wednesday.

The government convoy is expected to enter the city later on Tuesday and will include a limited number of forces and vehicles, according to Marwan al-Ali, the Damascus-appointed head of internal security in Hasakeh province.

The integration of Kurdish security forces into the interior ministry's ranks will follow, he added.

Friday's deal "seeks to unify Syrian territory", including Kurdish areas, while also maintaining an ongoing ceasefire and introducing the "gradual integration" of Kurdish forces and administrative institutions, according to the text of the agreement.

It was a blow to the Kurds, who had sought to preserve the de facto autonomy they exercised after seizing vast areas of north and northeast Syria in battles against the ISIS extremist group during the civil war, backed by a US-led coalition.

Mazloum Abdi, head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), had previously said the deal would be implemented on the ground from Monday, with both sides to pull forces back from frontline positions in parts of the northeast, and from Kobane in the north.

He added that a "limited internal security force" would enter parts of Hasakeh and Qamishli, but that "no military forces will enter any Kurdish city or town".

Arab World

Sudan Army Breaks Siege on Key Southern City of Kadugli

A volunteer fills water containers at a free distribution point, due to water outages in Khartoum, Sudan, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)
A volunteer fills water containers at a free distribution point, due to water outages in Khartoum, Sudan, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)
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Sudan Army Breaks Siege on Key Southern City of Kadugli

A volunteer fills water containers at a free distribution point, due to water outages in Khartoum, Sudan, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)
A volunteer fills water containers at a free distribution point, due to water outages in Khartoum, Sudan, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)

Sudanese army forces broke Tuesday a siege by the Rapid Support Forces on the South Kordofan state capital Kadugli, two army sources told AFP.

"Our forces have entered Kadugli and lifted the siege," one said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

Famine-hit Kadugli was long besieged by the RSF and their local allies, at war with Sudan's regular army since April 2023.