عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Washington Wants Syria’s Kurds to Join Negotiations

File: A Russian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber taking off from the Hmeimim air-base in the Syrian province of Latakia, October 3, 2015. (AFP/Komsomolskaya Pravda/Alexander Kots)
File: A Russian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber taking off from the Hmeimim air-base in the Syrian province of Latakia, October 3, 2015. (AFP/Komsomolskaya Pravda/Alexander Kots)
TT
TT

Washington Wants Syria’s Kurds to Join Negotiations

File: A Russian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber taking off from the Hmeimim air-base in the Syrian province of Latakia, October 3, 2015. (AFP/Komsomolskaya Pravda/Alexander Kots)
File: A Russian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber taking off from the Hmeimim air-base in the Syrian province of Latakia, October 3, 2015. (AFP/Komsomolskaya Pravda/Alexander Kots)

Washington informed the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura on Saturday about the need to include Kurds in the political negotiation, a request that would anger Ankara at a time when the Turkish foreign ministry advised the opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC) to positively deal with Russia’s Hmeimim summit on condition that it does not include the Kurdish Democratic Union Party.

A western official told Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday that the next phase would be important to set the final dates of several summits, including the Astana meetings on Monday and Tuesday, the expanded Syrian opposition meeting in Riyadh next Nov. 10, the Congress of Peoples of Syria at the Hmeimim air base on Nov. 18, in addition to the eighth round of the Geneva Syrian intra-talks next Nov. 28.

There are currently ongoing talks between Russian and Kurdish experts to set the principals of the Constitution and how much it was possible to accept transforming Syria into a “confederal state” alike the Russian example.

Meanwhile, the SNC was surprised on Saturday by the request of Turkey’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal, who said it was important to “positively” deal with the Hmeimim Summit.

Also on Saturday, Syrian Democratic Forces units handed over the Menagh military air base north of Aleppo to the Russian army. According to the Hmeimim military base, the move aims to “cut off the road in the face of Turkey, which was preparing to attack the base.”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights quoted reliable sources as saying that the deployment of Russian forces at the Menagh airbase might expand to other border areas with Turkey, and it also aims to prevent the risk of fighting in the northern countryside of Aleppo between SDF units and Turkish forces.

An opposition source told the German news agency that “handing over the airport of Manegh to Russian forces today is temporary until the entry of a Syrian military faction linked to the Syrian Free Army. The source said that this factions would be formed based on a previous agreement reached between Ankara and Moscow.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Italian Authorities Arrest 9 for Allegedly Funding Hamas Through Charities

Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
TT
TT

Italian Authorities Arrest 9 for Allegedly Funding Hamas Through Charities

Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Italian authorities arrested nine people linked to three charitable organizations on suspicion of raising millions of euros in funds for the Palestinian group Hamas, anti-terrorism prosecutors said in a statement Saturday. 

The suspects are accused of sending about 7 million euros ($8.2 million) to “associations based in Gaza, the Palestinian territories, or Israel, owned, controlled, or linked to Hamas,” the statement said. 

Among those arrested was Mohammad Hannoun, president of the Palestinian Association in Italy, prosecutors said, describing him as the “head of the Italian cell of the Hamas organization.” 

The European Union has Hamas listed on its terror list. 

According to Italian prosecutors, who collaborated with other EU countries in the probe, the illegal funds were delivered through “triangulation operations” via bank transfers or through organizations based abroad to associations based in Gaza, which have been declared illegal by Israel for their ties to Hamas. 

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi wrote on X that the operation “lifted the veil on behavior and activities which, pretending to be initiatives in favor of the Palestinian population, concealed support for and participation in terrorist organizations.” 

There was no immediate comment from the suspects or the associations. 

In January 202, the European Council decided to extend existing restrictive measures against 12 individuals and three entities that support the financing of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 

Arab World

Türkiye Holds Military Funeral for Libyan Officers Killed in Plane Crash

The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
TT
TT

Türkiye Holds Military Funeral for Libyan Officers Killed in Plane Crash

The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)

Türkiye held a military funeral ceremony Saturday morning for five Libyan officers, including western Libya’s military chief, who died in a plane crash earlier this week.

The private jet with Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad, four other military officers and three crew members crashed on Tuesday after taking off from Ankara, Türkiye’s capital, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane.

Al-Hadad was the top military commander in western Libya and played a crucial role in the ongoing, UN-brokered efforts to unify Libya’s military.

The high-level Libyan delegation was on its way back to Tripoli, Libya’s capital, after holding defense talks in Ankara aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries.

Saturday's ceremony was held at 8:00 a.m. local time at the Murted Airfield base, near Ankara, and attended by the Turkish military chief and the defense minister. The five caskets, each wrapped in a Libyan national flag, were then loaded onto a plane to be returned to their home country.

Türkiye’s military chief, Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, was also on the plane headed to Libya, state-run news agency TRT reported.

The bodies recovered from the crash site were kept at the Ankara Forensic Medicine Institute for identification. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc told reporters their DNA was compared to family members who joined a 22-person delegation that arrived from Libya after the crash.

Tunc also said Germany was asked to help examine the jet's black boxes as an impartial third party.

Arab World

Syrian Foreign Ministry: Talks with SDF Have Not Yielded Tangible Results

SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
TT
TT

Syrian Foreign Ministry: Talks with SDF Have Not Yielded Tangible Results

SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)

A source from the Syrian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the talks with the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) over their integration into state institutions “have not yielded tangible results.”

Discussions about merging the northeastern institutions into the state remain “hypothetical statements without execution,” it told Syria’s state news agency SANA.

Repeated assertions over Syria’s unity are being contradicted by the reality on the ground in the northeast, where the Kurds hold sway and where administrative, security and military institutions continue to be run separately from the state, it added.

The situation “consolidates the division” instead of addressing it, it warned.

It noted that despite the SDF’s continued highlighting of its dialogue with the Syrian state, these discussions have not led to tangible results.

It seems that the SDF is using this approach to absorb the political pressure on it, said the source. The truth is that there is little actual will to move from discussion to application of the March 10 agreement.

This raises doubts over the SDF’s commitment to the deal, it stressed.

Talk about rapprochement between the state and SDF remains meaningless if the agreement is not implemented on the ground within a specific timeframe, the source remarked.

Furthermore, the continued deployment of armed formations on the ground that are not affiliated with the Syrian army are evidence that progress is not being made.

The persistence of the situation undermines Syria’s sovereignty and hampers efforts to restore stability, it warned.