عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Turkey Slams US Oil Firm Deal with SDF

FILE PHOTO: Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stand together in the village of Baghouz, Deir Ezzor province, Syria March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Rodi Said
FILE PHOTO: Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stand together in the village of Baghouz, Deir Ezzor province, Syria March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Rodi Said
TT
TT

Turkey Slams US Oil Firm Deal with SDF

FILE PHOTO: Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stand together in the village of Baghouz, Deir Ezzor province, Syria March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Rodi Said
FILE PHOTO: Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stand together in the village of Baghouz, Deir Ezzor province, Syria March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Rodi Said

Turkey on Monday blasted an agreement between Kurdish-led forces in Syria's northeast and a US oil company as "unacceptable" and equivalent to terrorism financing.

Senior Washington officials have confirmed that a US oil company has signed an agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to "modernize" oil fields under its control.

Syria’s foreign ministry condemned on Sunday the deal as "theft" and an "affront to (its) national sovereignty.”

The US-backed SDF is mostly made up of Syrian Kurdish forces which Turkey considers to be a "terror group" linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Asharq Al-Awsat learned Saturday that SDF commander Mazloum Abdi confirmed to US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham that the deal was made by Delta Crescent Energy LLC.

"We regret the US support for this step that ignores international law and that targets Syria's territorial integrity and sovereignty," the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

It considered the deal to be "the financing of terrorism" and "unacceptable."

The foreign ministry accused the SDF of advancing "its separatist agenda by confiscating, with this step, Syrian people's natural resources."

"Syria's natural resources belong to Syrian people," it added.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
TT
TT

Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would travel to Syria on Friday to encourage the country's transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by insurgents, and appealed on Europe to review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.
Tajani presided over a meeting in Rome on Thursday of foreign ministry officials from five countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.
The aim, he said, is to coordinate the various post-Assad initiatives, with Italy prepared to make proposals on private investments in health care for the Syrian population.
Going into the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their European counterparts, Tajani said it was critical that all Syrians be recognized with equal rights. It was a reference to concerns about the rights of Christians and other minorities under Syria’s new de facto authorities of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HT.
“The first messages from Damascus have been positive. That’s why I’m going there tomorrow, to encourage this new phase that will help stabilize the international situation,” Tajani said.
Speaking to reporters, he said the European Union should discuss possible changes to its sanctions on Syria. “It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.
Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the US, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.
HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.
The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of a Syrian opposition leader whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.
Syria’s new leaders also have been urged to respect the rights of minorities and women. Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of insurgents.