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Arab World

Syria: Multiple Russian Airstrikes Pave Way to Idlib Battles

Syrians escape battles in Deir el-Zor and head towards Raqqa suburbs, AFP
Syrians escape battles in Deir el-Zor and head towards Raqqa suburbs, AFP
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Syria: Multiple Russian Airstrikes Pave Way to Idlib Battles

Syrians escape battles in Deir el-Zor and head towards Raqqa suburbs, AFP
Syrians escape battles in Deir el-Zor and head towards Raqqa suburbs, AFP

Massive escalation in Russian air strikes against the Idlib province in northwest Syria was registered on Friday. Strikes were far-reaching and touched on border areas with Turkey, amid expectations that the raids pave the way for an imminent military operation to expel Al Qaeda-linked militants from the Syrian province.

The escalation followed the meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, during which political sources cited that Syrian opposition ‘deliberately’ embarrassed Turkish authorities by formally requesting that Russia oversees a cease-fire in northern Syria.

But other sources said the Russian bombing could be part of an agreement with Turkey to expel the al-Sham Liberation Organization (an al-Qaeda affiliate) from its stronghold in Idlib.

It was noted that the Russian aircraft expanded its shelling of the countryside Idlib on Friday to include points adjacent to Turkish borders, as information came in about the violation of Turkish airspace during the exercises to bombardment, and dozens of strikes targeted over 42 towns and villages in the northern countryside of this province.

On the other hand, dozens of elements of the Syrian regime and its allies have been killed in large-scale attacks launched by ISIS protecting their outposts in central Syria, where the killing of 14 members of Hezbollah, the largest loss of the party suffered since its participation in the battles of the Syrian Badia against ISIS.

Hezbollah members fought alongside the Syrian pro-regime forces to recover ground lost during an ISIS counterattack in eastern Syria that targeted positions on the road between Deir al-Zor and Palmyra, a commander in the pro-Damascus alliance said.

Hours later, the military information unit of Hezbollah said that the Syrian army and its allies had managed to secure the road from Palmyra to Deir al-Zour after foiling the violent attack.

The assault marked the first major counterattack against the Syrian army and its allies since they broke through a swathe of ISIS-held territory to reach the city of Deir al-Zor earlier this month.

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Arab World

Erbil Accuses Iraq Parliament of Violating Political Agreement

In this picture taken on April 15, 2023, people row traditional "meshhouf" boats in the Tigris river in Baghdad. (AFP)
In this picture taken on April 15, 2023, people row traditional "meshhouf" boats in the Tigris river in Baghdad. (AFP)
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Erbil Accuses Iraq Parliament of Violating Political Agreement

In this picture taken on April 15, 2023, people row traditional "meshhouf" boats in the Tigris river in Baghdad. (AFP)
In this picture taken on April 15, 2023, people row traditional "meshhouf" boats in the Tigris river in Baghdad. (AFP)

Kurdish forces accused the Iraqi parliament of violating the political agreement reached between Baghdad and Erbil over the federal budget.

Parliament had introduced amendments over oil in the draft budget, delaying a parliamentary vote more than two months after legislators received the budget plan.

Oil has been a source of recurrent tension between Kurdistan's autonomous regional government and federal authorities in Baghdad. Kurdish leaders see the budget amendments as contradictory to an agreement concluded in April over oil exports.

Iraqi Kurdistan's Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said Saturday the changes amounted to "treason" and an affront to Iraqi Kurdish rights, while Nechirvan Barzani, the Iraqi Kurdistan president, said he was "deeply concerned" about the changes.

The federal government in mid-March sent the draft three-year budget to parliament, where changes were introduced to the original text.

The Kurdish regional government had for years earned billions of dollars in revenues exporting 475,000 barrels of oil daily to Türkiye without the Iraqi federal government's approval.

But in March the region was forced to halt its lucrative sales following international arbitration ruling in favor of Baghdad's exclusive rights over exports.

The April deal cleared the way for resuming exports, and stipulated that Baghdad's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) would manage the oil sales.

Revenues from the sales would be paid into a bank account overseen by Baghdad, and the Kurdish autonomous region would also receive a share of the federal budget, it said.

But Iraqi deputies changed the original budget text.

It now says the Kurdish region must first deliver 400,000 barrels of oil daily to the federal authorities, along with non-oil revenues, before it can receive its federal budget allocation, according to Kurdish Iraqi economist Govand Sherwani Sherwani.

The original draft, he said, had guaranteed that Kurdistan "would receive its share of the budget without condition, as a constitutional right".

Furthermore, the changes stipulate that Kurdish oil revenues would be deposited "in an account belonging to the Iraqi Finance Ministry, at the Iraqi Central Bank", instead of an international bank account as previously agreed, Sherwani said.

In a country where political agreements are concluded after endless negotiations between political parties, the objection of the Kurds is delaying a parliamentary vote on the budget.

Iraq's oil dependent economy has traditionally been plagued by budget delays, which the government's three-year proposal aimed to avoid.

Arab World

Sudan Factions Agree to Extend Ceasefire Deal Amid Clashes 

Smoke billows over buildings in southern Khartoum on May 29, 2023, amid ongoing fighting between the forces of two rival generals. (AFP)
Smoke billows over buildings in southern Khartoum on May 29, 2023, amid ongoing fighting between the forces of two rival generals. (AFP)
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Sudan Factions Agree to Extend Ceasefire Deal Amid Clashes 

Smoke billows over buildings in southern Khartoum on May 29, 2023, amid ongoing fighting between the forces of two rival generals. (AFP)
Smoke billows over buildings in southern Khartoum on May 29, 2023, amid ongoing fighting between the forces of two rival generals. (AFP)

Sudan's warring military factions agreed on Monday to a five-day extension of a ceasefire agreement, after renewed heavy clashes and air strikes in the capital threw fresh doubts on the effectiveness of a truce designed to ease a humanitarian crisis.

Saudi Arabia and the United States, which brokered a week-long ceasefire deal and have been monitoring it remotely, announced shortly before it was due to expire on Monday evening the parties had agreed to extend it.

Although the ceasefire had been imperfectly observed, it had allowed the delivery of aid to an estimated two million people, the two countries said in a joint statement.

"The extension will provide time for further humanitarian assistance, restoration of essential services, and discussion of a potential longer-term extension," the statement said.

The UN World Food Program (WFP) said starting on Saturday it had been able to make its first food distributions in Khartoum since the beginning of the conflict.

Sources with knowledge of the new deal said discussions on amendments to make the truce more effective were continuing.

Hours before it was signed, residents reported battles in all three of the adjoining cities that make up Sudan's greater capital around the confluence of the Nile - Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri. The intensity of the fighting was greater than over the past three days, they said.

Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a power struggle that erupted into conflict on April 15, killing hundreds and driving nearly 1.4 million people from their homes.

Air strikes, which the army has been using to target RSF forces embedded in neighborhoods across the capital, could be heard in Omdurman on Monday afternoon, residents said.

"Since yesterday evening there has been bombardment with all types of weapons between the army and the Rapid Support," Hassan Othman, a 55-year-old resident of Omdurman, told Reuters by phone. "We're in a state of great fear. Where's the truce?"

On past days, the truce deal had brought some respite from heavy fighting, though sporadic clashes and air strikes have continued.

Saudi Arabia and the United States have previously said both sides had committed various violations of the truce, as well as impeding humanitarian access and restoration of essential services.

Orphanage deaths

Sudan's health ministry has said more than 700 people have died as a result of the fighting, though the true figure is likely much higher because of the difficulty health and aid workers have had in accessing conflict zones.

The government has separately recorded up to 510 deaths in El Geneina, one of the main cities in Darfur, a western region already scarred by conflict and displacement.

In Khartoum, factories, offices, homes and banks have been looted or destroyed. Power, water and telecommunications are often cut, there are acute shortages of medicines and medical equipment, and food supplies have been running low.

At Sudan's largest orphanage, Reuters reported how dozens of babies have died since the start of the conflict, which one Khartoum State official attributed mainly to staff shortages and recurrent power outages caused by the fighting.

The United Nations and aid groups say that despite the truce, they have struggled to get bureaucratic approvals and security guarantees to transport aid and staff to Khartoum and other places of need.

The WFP said it had begun three days of distributions in the capital on Saturday and had reached more than 12,000 people in Omdurman in areas controlled by the army as well as the RSF. It said it plans to reach at least 500,000 people in Khartoum.

The WFP expects up to 2.5 million people in Sudan to slip into hunger in the coming months, raising the number of people affected by acute food security to more than 19 million, or 40% of the population.

The head of the UN refugee agency told Reuters that a projection that one million people could flee Sudan by October may prove a conservative estimate.

More than 350,000 people have already fled into neighboring countries, with most heading to Egypt, Chad and South Sudan.

Arab World

Palestinian PM to Visit Egypt, Promote Cooperation and Trade

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. (Wafa news agency)
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. (Wafa news agency)
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Palestinian PM to Visit Egypt, Promote Cooperation and Trade

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. (Wafa news agency)
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. (Wafa news agency)

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh will arrive in Egypt on Monday at the head of a high-level ministerial delegation, mainly for talks on increasing trade.

Shtayyeh will meet with Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly. Palestinian ministers accompanying him will meet with their Egyptian counterparts and will sign joint cooperation agreements.

The visit is part of the Palestinian government efforts to encourage the Economic Disengagement Plan (EDP) from Israel, a strategy that never saw light due to Israeli obstacles.

The EDP aims to separate the Palestinian economy from Israel’s by opening to Arab markets. The strategy is based on calls by the Palestinian National and Central Councils to amend the Paris Protocol.

Signed in 1994, the Paris Protocol is an annex to the Gaza–Jericho Agreement, stipulates that Israel will collect and pay tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority on goods entering the Palestinian markets. In addition, it sets customs duties and a quota for goods that can be imported.

In February, Shtayyeh met with his Libyan counterpart Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah in the Libyan capital where he signed economic agreements and understandings.

Prior to his trip to Libya, the Palestinian PM had visited Iraq and Jordan also to push for economic agreements and discuss the possibility of relying on Iraqi and Jordanian oil instead of Israeli fuel.

Shtayyeh had met with Madbouly at the Climate Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh last November. He had called for raising trade between the Palestinians and Egypt and benefiting from Egyptian expertise in modernizing industries, training, and developing new industrial ideas.

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that trade exchange and joint cooperation will be at the core of the Palestinian delegation’s talks in Cairo. Meetings will also discuss bilateral relations, the political situation, Palestinian reconciliation and issues of common interest.

Arab World

Heavy Clashes in Sudan’s Capital as Truce Set to Expire 

Destroyed vehicles are pictured outside the burnt-down headquarters of Sudan's Central Bureau of Statistics, on al-Sittin (sixty) road in the south of Khartoum on May 29, 2023. (AFP)
Destroyed vehicles are pictured outside the burnt-down headquarters of Sudan's Central Bureau of Statistics, on al-Sittin (sixty) road in the south of Khartoum on May 29, 2023. (AFP)
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Heavy Clashes in Sudan’s Capital as Truce Set to Expire 

Destroyed vehicles are pictured outside the burnt-down headquarters of Sudan's Central Bureau of Statistics, on al-Sittin (sixty) road in the south of Khartoum on May 29, 2023. (AFP)
Destroyed vehicles are pictured outside the burnt-down headquarters of Sudan's Central Bureau of Statistics, on al-Sittin (sixty) road in the south of Khartoum on May 29, 2023. (AFP)

Heavy and sustained clashes could be heard on Monday in parts of Sudan's capital, residents said, hours before the expiry of a shaky ceasefire deal that had brought some respite from a six-week-old conflict but little humanitarian access.

Fighting continued from Sunday into Monday in the south and west of Omdurman, one of three adjoining cities that make up Sudan's greater capital. Across the River Nile in southern Khartoum residents also reported clashes late on Sunday.

Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a power struggle that erupted into conflict on April 15, killing hundreds and driving nearly 1.4 million people from their homes.

Both sides have said they are considering extending a deal for a week-long ceasefire brokered by Saudi Arabia and the United States that was designed to allow for the distribution of aid and is due to expire at 9.45 p.m. (19:45 GMT) local time on Monday.

Saudi Arabia and the United States said on Sunday that both the army and the RSF had repeatedly violated the truce and had impeded the delivery of humanitarian access and restoration of essential services.

Arab World

Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian Officer in Clashes 

Israeli activists walk towards the former Jewish settlement of Homesh, in the northern West Bank, April 24, 2007. (Reuters)
Israeli activists walk towards the former Jewish settlement of Homesh, in the northern West Bank, April 24, 2007. (Reuters)
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Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian Officer in Clashes 

Israeli activists walk towards the former Jewish settlement of Homesh, in the northern West Bank, April 24, 2007. (Reuters)
Israeli activists walk towards the former Jewish settlement of Homesh, in the northern West Bank, April 24, 2007. (Reuters)

Israeli forces killed a Palestinian security officer during clashes in the occupied West Bank flashpoint city of Jenin on Monday, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa said. 

The Israeli military said it was looking into the report. Earlier it said in a statement that its forces came under heavy Palestinian fire while seeking the arrest of security suspects in Jenin and returned fire at the gunmen. 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party identified the officer as Ashraf Sheikh Ibrahim, saying he had died "as he confronted the aggression and the occupation's storming of the city of Jenin." 

In another part of the West Bank on Monday, Jewish settlers inaugurated a seminary in an area that has been a focus of US scrutiny, drawing Palestinian condemnation. 

In a video posted on social media, settler leader Yossi Dagan recited a Jewish benediction at the entrance to the Homesh seminary school, a large white prefabricated shack at the top of a West Bank hill. 

"With God's help ... there will be many more new settlements in northern Samaria," he said, referring to the West Bank by its biblical name. 

US-led peace talks aimed at establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza broke down in 2014 and show little sign of revival, and Israeli-Palestinian violence has escalated over the past year. 

Most countries deem Israel's settlements illegal - a view Israel disputes. Palestinians say they eat away at the land they want for a future state and cite growing violence by settlers. 

Abbas said Homesh must be removed. "Statements of condemnation are no longer enough in the face of the (Israeli) extremist right-wing government," said his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh. 

In a bid to quell international concern, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel has no intention of building any new settlements as his nationalist-religious government has vowed to bolster existing ones. 

Spokespeople for Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on whether any of them had authorized the establishment of the new Homesh seminary. 

Last week, Smotrich, who heads the pro-settler Jewish Zionism party and holds some West Bank powers, said Homesh had been officially added to settlement council land in order to work out a new building plan for the seminary school. 

Arab World

New Generation of West Bank Militants Foreshadows Imminent Security Outburst

Armed members of the Jenin Brigade during a memorial ceremony (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Armed members of the Jenin Brigade during a memorial ceremony (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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New Generation of West Bank Militants Foreshadows Imminent Security Outburst

Armed members of the Jenin Brigade during a memorial ceremony (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Armed members of the Jenin Brigade during a memorial ceremony (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Entering the Jenin camp in the West Bank today bears a striking resemblance to stepping foot into a fortified military compound. Positioned at its entry points are rudimentary metallic barriers strategically placed to impede the passage of Israeli military vehicles.

These obstacles are accompanied by a network of interconnected wires, tethered to locally crafted explosive devices, running alongside the roads that lead to the camp’s narrow pathways.

The camp is home to a population of over 20,000.

Sand barricades line the entrances of narrow alleys and streets within the cramped camp, spanning less than half a square kilometer. This restricted space has become a periodic battleground between Israeli special forces and Palestinian militants.

Overhead, Israeli reconnaissance aircraft incessantly surveil the camp’s skies, intensifying the prevailing tension and anxiety by closely monitoring alleyway activities day and night.

The status quo at Jenin camp reflects escalating military tensions in Palestinian territories after years of relative calm, especially with the emergence of a new generation of militants who have become a top priority for Israel.

The existing power imbalance, evident in the crude fortifications confronting the advanced military capabilities of the Israeli army at the camp entrances, indicates that the upcoming wave of violence will be intense and prolonged.

Two decades ago, the Jenin camp witnessed one of the most ferocious battles between Palestinians and Israelis. In the spring of 2002, it was overrun by Israeli forces as part of their operations, known as “Operation Defensive Shield,” aimed at militarily crushing the Second Intifada.

Israel devastated entire neighborhoods within the camp, prompting US Middle East envoy Terje Rod-Larsen to describe the camp’s fate as an “earthquake.”

The battle resulted in the death of 58 Palestinians, according to the UN, while Israel acknowledged the loss of 23 of its soldiers, including 14 who were killed in a single day.

Nowadays, a new generation in the camp is arming itself against Israel once again.

The Jenin Brigade, for example, is drawing young recruits and executing operations against Israeli targets.

For its part, the Israeli army is relentlessly pursuing the brigade by conducting raids into Jenin. This has sparked recent intense clashes.

Asharq Al-Awsat has managed to interview the brigade leader, who is at the top of Israel's wanted list.

Israeli security forces have attempted to assassinate him multiple times, resulting in the death of his two brothers and several comrades during Israeli incursions in Jenin.

In an interview conducted under sensitive security conditions, the top wanted individual told Asharq Al-Awsat about his engagement in armed activities.

With his hand gripping his rifle in one of the camp's alleys, surrounded by masked members of his brigade, he said: “I am in my thirties, and I joined the armed struggle due to the vanishing hopes we all faced and the ongoing aggression of the occupation against us.”

“We will bear our weapons and proceed to die with dignity, as long as the occupation persists, we will have no future ahead of us,” he added.

According to recent studies conducted by the Palestinian Center for Political and Survey Research, the latest opinion polls reveal that both Palestinians and Israelis share the belief that the ongoing wave of violence in the West Bank could potentially evolve into a fresh uprising.

Approximately 61% of Palestinians consider the situation in the West Bank as the start of a wider confrontation, while 65% of Israelis concur with this assessment.

Figures indicated a slight increase in support for the option of armed struggle among Palestinians compared to previous years. The approval rating reached 40%, up from 37% in 2020.

As for Israelis, 26% of them preferred the option of a “decisive war against the Palestinians,” representing a 7-point increase in support for this option compared to opinion polls conducted in 2020, according to the same center.

Arab World

Darfur Governor Calls on Citizens to ‘Take up Arms’ to Protect Their Property

Citizens in the city of Khartoum. (AFP)  
Citizens in the city of Khartoum. (AFP)  
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Darfur Governor Calls on Citizens to ‘Take up Arms’ to Protect Their Property

Citizens in the city of Khartoum. (AFP)  
Citizens in the city of Khartoum. (AFP)  

Darfur governor Mini Minawi called Sunday on citizens to "take up arms" to defend themselves and their properties amid the ongoing war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

“I call on all our honorable citizens, the people of Darfur, old and young, men and women, to take up arms to protect their property,” he wrote on Twitter on Monday.

“There are many who do not wish for the safety or rights of citizens and deliberately sabotage national institutions,” he added.

Minawi stressed, “we, the struggle movements will support them in all defense cases.”

The head of the Sudanese Liberation Movement, Minni Minnawi, was appointed in May 2021 as the governor of Darfur. He was among the signatories of the Darfur Peace Agreement in 2020 with the transitional government after ousting the regime of Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

The conflict that erupted on April 15 between the army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF led by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo has killed hundreds and internally displaced more than one million individuals, while more than 300,000 have fled to neighboring countries.

The fighting across Sudan has killed around 1,800 people, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. Most casualties were recorded in the capital and in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur.

Sudan is witnessing the sixth day of a one-week ceasefire that was agreed on via mediation by the US and Saudi Arabia. However, both sides exchanged accusations of violating the ceasefire.

According to the Saudi Press Agency, Washington and Riyadh called on the warring parties to keep up talks to extend the ceasefire as this would “facilitate the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance to the Sudanese people.”

Arab World

Syrian State Media: Suspected Israeli Airstrikes Target Damascus 

Flares of Syrian air defense rockets are seen in the sky of Damascus on April 4, 2023. (AFP)
Flares of Syrian air defense rockets are seen in the sky of Damascus on April 4, 2023. (AFP)
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Syrian State Media: Suspected Israeli Airstrikes Target Damascus 

Flares of Syrian air defense rockets are seen in the sky of Damascus on April 4, 2023. (AFP)
Flares of Syrian air defense rockets are seen in the sky of Damascus on April 4, 2023. (AFP)

Airstrikes attributed to Israel targeted Syria's capital city late Sunday, the first such strikes in nearly a month, Syrian state media reported.

Syrian air defenses responded to the strikes in the vicinity of Damascus and shot down some of them, state news agency SANA reported. The attack caused only “material damage,” it said.

The last suspected Israeli airstrike on Syria was on May 2, targeting the international airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. The attack killed one Syrian soldier and put the airport out of commission, state media said at the time.

There was no immediate statement from Israeli authorities regarding Sunday's strikes on Damascus.

Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Israeli missiles had targeted sites used by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, which is allied with the Syrian government and backed by Iran, and that ambulances had transported people wounded in the strikes.

The observatory said the attack was the 17th by Israel on Syrian territory since the beginning of the year.

Israel, which has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment next door, has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in government-controlled parts of neighboring Syria in recent years, but rarely acknowledges them.

However, Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said earlier this month in an address at a security conference that the new Israeli government has greatly increased the number of strikes on Iranian targets since taking office late last year.

Last week, an Israeli army spokesperson said in a statement that an Israeli drone conducting a surveillance mission in Syrian airspace “came under fire by small arms” and Israeli forces responded with machine gun fire.

Arab World

Türkiye to Repatriate Syrian Refugees to Regime-Controlled Areas

Syrian women cross the border to return to their country. (EPA)
Syrian women cross the border to return to their country. (EPA)
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Türkiye to Repatriate Syrian Refugees to Regime-Controlled Areas

Syrian women cross the border to return to their country. (EPA)
Syrian women cross the border to return to their country. (EPA)

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that Ankara is seeking to safely return Syrian refugees to areas controlled by the Syrian government, and not only to safe areas in northern Syria.

In an interview with a local channel on Friday, the Turkish FM said: “We want to return the Syrians to the places controlled by the regime as well, not just to the safe areas.”

Cavusoglu indicated that this issue was discussed with the Syrian government within the framework of the so-called Quad-like grouping with Russia, Iran, Syria and Türkiye.

“We agreed at the recent meeting of foreign ministers in Moscow held on May 10, to prepare the infrastructure in order to send the Syrians safely to the places controlled by the regime, and we decided to form a committee at the level of deputy ministers with the participation of the concerned institutions as well,” he noted.

“In other words, we are already determined to send the Syrians back. Secondly, we do not do this with a racist discourse, we do not forget that they are also human,” Cavusoglu added.

Recently the Syrian refugees file topped the political agenda in Türkiye, which headed Sunday for a decisive runoff vote after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could not win the presidential race in the first round. He will face the leader of the main opposition CHP, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Ahead of the runoff, Kilicdaroglu stated that Türkiye would deport 10 million refugees and immigrants immediately if he wins the polls through negotiations with the Syrian government, European Union, and United Nations to ensure their voluntary and safe return.

For his part, Erdogan spoke a few days ago about the return of more than a million refugees to the areas controlled by Türkiye and its allied factions of the Syrian National Army (SNA) in northern Syria.

Meanwhile, Türkiye has launched the construction of nearly a quarter million housing units to resettle refugees in opposition-held northern Syria.

“Syrian refugees living in Türkiye will settle in the houses... as part of a dignified, voluntary safe return,” Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Wednesday at the launch of the project.

He said that “240,000 houses will be built" in the region, expressing hope that the project would be completed in three years.

On Friday, Cavusoglu said in his television interview that almost 553,000 Syrians had returned to areas where terrorism had defeated northern Syria.

He also pointed out that most of the Syrians in Türkiye want to return to their country, and stressed “the need to implement this process within the framework of international and Turkish laws.”

Arab World

Egypt, Cyprus, Greece Agree to Boost Cooperation in Tourism

Egyptian Minister of Emigration and Expatriate Affairs Soha Gendy meets with Cypriot Ambassador to Egypt Polly Ioannou in Cairo. (Egyptian government)
Egyptian Minister of Emigration and Expatriate Affairs Soha Gendy meets with Cypriot Ambassador to Egypt Polly Ioannou in Cairo. (Egyptian government)
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Egypt, Cyprus, Greece Agree to Boost Cooperation in Tourism

Egyptian Minister of Emigration and Expatriate Affairs Soha Gendy meets with Cypriot Ambassador to Egypt Polly Ioannou in Cairo. (Egyptian government)
Egyptian Minister of Emigration and Expatriate Affairs Soha Gendy meets with Cypriot Ambassador to Egypt Polly Ioannou in Cairo. (Egyptian government)

Egypt, Cyprus and Greece agreed on Saturday to boost cooperation in tourism.

Egyptian Minister of Emigration and Expatriate Affairs Soha Gendy met with Cypriot Ambassador to Egypt Polly Ioannou in Cairo.

The meeting reviewed the three-way talks with the counterparts of the Egyptian Minister in Cyprus and Greece, which were held last November to probe different ideas and new proposals regarding joint cooperation to consolidate the historic relations between the three countries.

Egypt, Greece and Cyprus signed a tripartite cooperation mechanism that was later expanded after the discovery of natural gas resources in the Eastern Mediterranean.

After Saturday’s talks, Gendy said the meeting tackled new initiatives related to the youth in the three countries.

The officials discussed boosting cooperation in tourism and agreed to hold more meetings in the future.

They stressed the need to “build on previous successes in cooperation with the Cypriot diaspora and the historic relations that bind the peoples of the three countries.”

They added that they should build on the strong bilateral ties that Egypt enjoys with Cyprus and its political leadership.

They agreed to educate new generations on the history of Egyptian-Cypriot relations, through films and cultural events, and encouraged Cypriot youths of Egyptian origin to take part in the World Youth Forum held annually in Egypt.

Gendy and Ioannou also addressed cooperation with Mediterranean countries in combating illegal migration in line with Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi's “Lifeboats” initiative. They also covered preparations to take part in the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) upcoming conference.