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Türkiye Has No ‘Secret Agenda’ in Syria, Minister Says

Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan addresses the audience during a press briefing meeting to review the past year and to share insights regarding regional and global developments in Istanbul, on January 10, 2025. (AFP)
Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan addresses the audience during a press briefing meeting to review the past year and to share insights regarding regional and global developments in Istanbul, on January 10, 2025. (AFP)
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Türkiye Has No ‘Secret Agenda’ in Syria, Minister Says

Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan addresses the audience during a press briefing meeting to review the past year and to share insights regarding regional and global developments in Istanbul, on January 10, 2025. (AFP)
Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan addresses the audience during a press briefing meeting to review the past year and to share insights regarding regional and global developments in Istanbul, on January 10, 2025. (AFP)

Türkiye “does not have any secret agenda” in Syria and wants to construct a “new culture of cooperation,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Friday.

One of Türkiye’s priorities in the upcoming year is to clear the region of terrorism, Fidan said, referring to Kurdish militants based in northeast Syria. “The extensions of the separatist group in Syria are now facing destruction and the old order is no longer going to continue,” he told a news conference in Istanbul.

Fidan also criticized the United States’ support for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, as the US seeks to prevent a revival of the ISIS group.

“This kills the spirit of alliance and solidarity,” Fidan said. He said Türkiye is “not going to shy away from taking the necessary steps” in terms of military action.

Türkiye views the SDF as an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which is listed as a terror organization by Türkiye and other states.

Referring to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s comments that US troops should stay in Syria, Fidan dismissed the views of the outgoing US administration. “This is the problem of the new government and the old government does not have a say in this,” he said.

The SDF is currently involved in fighting the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army.

Fidan also backed suggestions for Syrian Kurds to join a new national military but said all non-Syrians fighting for the SDF — a reference to those with ties to the PKK — should leave the country.

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Arab World

18 Egyptians Missing after Deadly Boat Capsize Near Greece

Rescued migrants in Heraklion, southern Crete, on Saturday, after their boat capsized © Costas METAXAKIS / AFP
Rescued migrants in Heraklion, southern Crete, on Saturday, after their boat capsized © Costas METAXAKIS / AFP
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18 Egyptians Missing after Deadly Boat Capsize Near Greece

Rescued migrants in Heraklion, southern Crete, on Saturday, after their boat capsized © Costas METAXAKIS / AFP
Rescued migrants in Heraklion, southern Crete, on Saturday, after their boat capsized © Costas METAXAKIS / AFP

Egypt said Wednesday that 18 of its citizens were still missing after a migrant boat capsized, killing four people, off the Greek island of Crete last week.

The wooden boat was carrying 50 people, including four minors, when Greece's coast guard was alerted late Friday.

Greek authorities then directed a commercial vessel to the area for a rescue operation.

According to Greek public broadcaster ERT, an accident occurred when the commercial vessel approached the migrants' boat.

As the passengers tried to climb up ladders into the rescue vessel, a sudden movement caused the wooden boat to capsize.

Egypt's foreign ministry said that 21 Egyptians were on board the boat when it capsized, three of whom have been found dead while the rest remain missing.

The body of a 28-year-old Sudanese woman was also discovered, according to the Greek coast guard.

Twenty migrants were rescued by the commercial vessel, according to the Greek authorities, leaving several people still unaccounted for.

Greek authorities arrested two Sudanese men suspected of being people smugglers who are set to appear before judges on Wednesday, according to local media Creta24.

The migrant boat is believed to have departed from Libya.

Migrants regularly attempt the perilous crossing from Libya to Crete, a gateway to the European Union.

More than 17,000 Egyptians reached Europe via the Mediterranean last year, making them the top African and second-largest global group of irregular migrants to Europe.

Many come from poor towns in Egypt's Nile Delta and travel via Libya.

They are often extorted and held hostage until their families back home send the smugglers more money.

Egypt's foreign ministry warned citizens to "exercise extreme caution to avoid being misled by illegal immigration gangs", and said it was coordinating the repatriation of the deceased.

Arab World

HRW: Sudan's RSF Targeted Civilians with Disabilities in El-Fasher

RSF fighters in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur (File photo – Telegram)
RSF fighters in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur (File photo – Telegram)
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HRW: Sudan's RSF Targeted Civilians with Disabilities in El-Fasher

RSF fighters in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur (File photo – Telegram)
RSF fighters in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur (File photo – Telegram)

Sudanese Rapid Support Forces killed, abused and targeted people with disabilities during and after their takeover of El-Fasher, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday, calling it the first time it had documented abuse of "this type and scale".

The RSF, which have been fighting Sudan's regular army since April 2023, captured the military's last stronghold in western Darfur in October after an 18-month siege.

Reports later emerged of mass killings, abductions, rape and widespread looting, AFP reported.

Last week, the UN's independent fact-finding mission on Sudan said the assault on El-Fasher bore "the hallmarks of genocide".

"Human Rights Watch has documented abuses against people with disabilities in armed conflict around the world for over a decade," said Emina Cerimovic, the group's associate disability rights director.

"But this is the first time we have documented this type and scale of targeted abuse."

HRW interviewed 22 survivors and witnesses from El-Fasher and found that RSF fighters singled out civilians with disabilities as they tried to flee.

"The Rapid Support Forces treated people with disabilities as suspects, burdens or expendable," Cerimovic said.

She added that fighters accused amputees of being injured soldiers and "summarily executed them", while others were mocked as "insane" or "not being a complete person".

A 29-year-old nurse said fighters executed a young man with Down syndrome whose sister had carried him on her back.

"After killing her brother, they tied her hands, covered her face and took her away," said the nurse.

The nurse also described fighters ordering a woman carrying a blind teenage boy on her back to put him down.

"She said 'he cannot see'," the nurse said. "They immediately shot him in the head."

Another witness said he saw fighters kill "more than 10 people", most with physical disabilities.

Others were beaten, detained for ransom or stripped of essential devices such as wheelchairs and hearing aids, leaving many unable to escape, HRW said.

Conditions in displacement camps also remain dire, with "bathrooms and other facilities... inaccessible" to people with disabilities, witnesses told HRW.

On Tuesday, the UN Security Council sanctioned four RSF commanders over atrocities in El-Fasher.

The wider conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 11 million and triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Arab World

Hezbollah Official Says Will Not Intervene in Event of 'Limited' US Strikes on Iran

A bulldozer clears debris near heavily-damaged buildings in the village of Bednayel in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley region on February 21, 2026, following Israeli strikes. (AFP)
A bulldozer clears debris near heavily-damaged buildings in the village of Bednayel in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley region on February 21, 2026, following Israeli strikes. (AFP)
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Hezbollah Official Says Will Not Intervene in Event of 'Limited' US Strikes on Iran

A bulldozer clears debris near heavily-damaged buildings in the village of Bednayel in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley region on February 21, 2026, following Israeli strikes. (AFP)
A bulldozer clears debris near heavily-damaged buildings in the village of Bednayel in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley region on February 21, 2026, following Israeli strikes. (AFP)

A Hezbollah official said Wednesday that the Lebanese militant group would not intervene militarily in the event of "limited" US strikes on its backer Iran, but would consider any attack against supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a "red line".

Lebanese authorities fear that Hezbollah would become involved if a potential US attack on Iran triggered a regional war, but the official told AFP on condition of anonymity: "In the event of limited US strikes on Iran, Hezbollah's position will be to not intervene militarily."