Ankara Vows Retaliation against Syrian Regime Attacks on Turkish Observation Posts

Fighters of National Army, backed by Turkey, stand at a back of a truck in the city of al-Bab, Syria August 5, 2018. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Fighters of National Army, backed by Turkey, stand at a back of a truck in the city of al-Bab, Syria August 5, 2018. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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Ankara Vows Retaliation against Syrian Regime Attacks on Turkish Observation Posts

Fighters of National Army, backed by Turkey, stand at a back of a truck in the city of al-Bab, Syria August 5, 2018. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Fighters of National Army, backed by Turkey, stand at a back of a truck in the city of al-Bab, Syria August 5, 2018. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Ankara warned neighboring Damascus that regime forces assaulting any Turkish observation posts set up in Syria’s northern Idlib province would be unacceptable.

Moscow and Tehran, both regime backers, were also asked to reign in Syrian army forces attacking Turkish assets in the war-torn Middle Eastern country.

According to the Defense Ministry, Turkey's 10th observation post was "deliberately" targeted in a recent mortar attack in which three soldiers were wounded.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu confirmed that “Turkey won’t tolerate Syrian regime harassment of its soldiers,” just hours after an attack occurred. He stressed that Ankara “will teach them their place,” but that essentially it is the responsibility of Russia and Iran to halt the attacks.

Speaking during his visit to the southern Turkish province of Hatay, which is near borders with Syria, Cavusoglu held Russia and Iran responsible for regime actions based on arrangements achieved at the trilateral Syria peace talks held in the Kazakh capital, Astana.

Contrary to Russia and Iran, who act as backers of the Syrian regime, Turkey presents itself as a guarantor for opposition armed factions at the Astana sessions.

“At that point, stopping the regime is the responsibility of Russia and Iran, which we have been working with closely in Syria, so far. They are both guarantors of the regime in the political process and according to commitments on the ground,” Cavusoglu said.

Earlier Sunday, Syrian regime forces attacked a Turkish observation post in Idlib with no casualties; Turkey retaliated with heavy weapons, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Regime forces have repeatedly targeted Turkish observation posts in de-escalation zones in Idlib and Hama provinces in north and central Syria.

Ankara, therefore, considered the recent attack a breach of the Sochi agreement with Russia, which established a buffer zone to protect Idlib’s armed opposition factions from regime offensives—it was reached last September between Ankara and Moscow.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for his part, vowed Turkey would retaliate against Syrian regime attacks against its assets in Syria.



Kurdish PKK Militants Burn Weapons in Iraq to Launch Disarmament

 Armed PKK fighters arrive ahead of a disarming ceremony in Sulaimaniya, Iraq, July 11, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video. KURDISTAN WORKERS PARTY MEDIA OFFICE/Handout via REUTERS
Armed PKK fighters arrive ahead of a disarming ceremony in Sulaimaniya, Iraq, July 11, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video. KURDISTAN WORKERS PARTY MEDIA OFFICE/Handout via REUTERS
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Kurdish PKK Militants Burn Weapons in Iraq to Launch Disarmament

 Armed PKK fighters arrive ahead of a disarming ceremony in Sulaimaniya, Iraq, July 11, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video. KURDISTAN WORKERS PARTY MEDIA OFFICE/Handout via REUTERS
Armed PKK fighters arrive ahead of a disarming ceremony in Sulaimaniya, Iraq, July 11, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video. KURDISTAN WORKERS PARTY MEDIA OFFICE/Handout via REUTERS

Thirty Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants burned their weapons at the mouth of a cave in northern Iraq on Friday, marking a symbolic but significant step toward ending a decades-long insurgency against Türkiye.

Footage from the ceremony showed the fighters, half of them women, queuing to place AK-47 assault rifles, bandoliers and other guns into a large grey cauldron. Flames later engulfed the black gun shafts pointed to the sky, as Kurdish, Iraqi and Turkish officials watched nearby, Reuters reported.

The PKK, locked in conflict with the Turkish state and outlawed since 1984, decided in May to disband, disarm and end its separatist struggle after a public call to do so from its long-imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan.

After a series of failed peace efforts, the new initiative could pave the way for Ankara to end an insurgency that has killed over 40,000 people, burdened the economy and wrought deep social and political divisions in Türkiye and the wider region.

President Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped the PKK's dissolution would bolster Turkish security and regional stability. "May God grant us success in achieving our goals on this path we walk for the security of our country, the peace of our nation, and the establishment of lasting peace in our region," he said on X.

Friday's ceremony was held at the entrance of the Jasana cave in the town of Dukan, 60 km (37 miles) northwest of Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan region of Iraq's north.

The fighters, in beige military fatigues, were flanked by four commanders including senior PKK figure Bese Hozat, who read a statement in Turkish declaring the group's decision to disarm.

"We voluntarily destroy our weapons, in your presence, as a step of goodwill and determination," she said, before another commander read the same statement in Kurdish.

Helicopters hovered overhead, with dozens of Iraqi Kurdish security forces surrounding the mountainous area, a Reuters witness said.

The ceremony was attended by Turkish and Iraqi intelligence figures, officials of Iraq's Kurdistan regional government and senior members of Türkiye's pro-Kurdish DEM party - which also played a key role this year facilitating the PKK's disarmament decision.

It was unclear when further handovers would take place.

A senior Turkish official said the arms handover marked an "irreversible turning point" in the peace process, while another government source said ensuing steps would include the legal reintegration of PKK members into society in Türkiye and efforts to heal communities and promote reconciliation.

The PKK has been based in northern Iraq after being pushed well beyond Türkiye's southeastern frontier in recent years. Türkiye's military carries out regular strikes on PKK bases in the region and established several military outposts there.

The end of NATO member Türkiye's conflict with the PKK could have consequences across the region, including in neighboring Syria where the United States is allied with Syrian Kurdish forces that Ankara deems a PKK offshoot.

Washington and Ankara want those Kurds to quickly integrate with Syria's security structure, which has been undergoing reconfiguration since the fall in December of autocratic President Bashar al-Assad. PKK disarmament could add to this pressure, analysts say.

The PKK, DEM and Ocalan have all called on Erdogan's government to address Kurdish demands for more rights in regions where Kurds form a majority, particularly Türkiye's southeast where the insurgency was concentrated.

In a rare online video published on Wednesday, Ocalan - whose large image was shown at the weapons ceremony - also urged Türkiye's parliament to set up a commission to oversee disarmament and manage the broader peace process.

Ankara has taken steps toward forming the commission, while the DEM and Ocalan have said that legal assurances and certain mechanisms were needed to smooth the PKK's transition into democratic politics.

Omer Celik, spokesman for Erdogan's AK Party, said the ceremony marked a first step toward full disarmament and a "terror-free Türkiye", adding this must be completed "in a short time".

Erdogan has said the disarmament will enable the rebuilding of Türkiye's southeast.

Türkiye spent nearly $1.8 trillion over the past five decades combating terrorism, Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek has said.