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Turkish Electricity Company Expands Rapidly in Northwest Syria

An aerial photo of solar energy production cells in northern Syria near the Turkish border on June 9 (AFP)
An aerial photo of solar energy production cells in northern Syria near the Turkish border on June 9 (AFP)
    Idlib, London - Firas Karam, Asharq Al-Awsat
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Turkish Electricity Company Expands Rapidly in Northwest Syria

An aerial photo of solar energy production cells in northern Syria near the Turkish border on June 9 (AFP)
An aerial photo of solar energy production cells in northern Syria near the Turkish border on June 9 (AFP)

In cooperation with the Syrian opposition Salvation Government’s General Electricity Corporation (GEC), a Turkish private firm is setting up power transmission lines to all parts of Syria’s opposition-held northwest governorate of Idlib.

In Idlib, the GEC oversees the management of power services, but the bulk of electricity feeding the governorate’s new power grid comes from Turkey.

“After the contracting company assigned to build the power-supply project in Idlib concluded its work…our company started delivering electricity to the densely populated cities of Idlib, Harem, Salqin, Al-Dana and Sarmada with high quality, efficiency and speed,” revealed the media relations officer at Turkey’s “Green Energy” company.

The energy project in Syria’s Idlib included building substations with the capacity to receive (66 kV) from Turkey, establishing a voltage line linking the power networks in the two countries to each other, and equipping and maintaining high-voltage networks located in the region.

For citizens in Idlib, connecting to the new grid will require them to purchase a pre-paid electric meter and draw a cable from the network. At the network, both single-phase and three-phase electric power meters are available to subscribers.

Getting a single-phase meter would cost TRY 350 with an additional subscription fee of TRY 100, while the price of a three-phase meter is set at TRY900 with a TRY400 subscription fee.

Moreover, a domestic kilowatt would cost 0.9 TRY, while the price of a commercial or industrial kilowatt stands at 1TRY, according to Green Energy.

Separately, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Turkish intelligence agreeing with ally Syrian opposition factions to send fighters to Afghanistan.

“There is an agreement between Turkish intelligence and the leaders of Syrian opposition factions, whether in the northern city of Afrin or other areas under their influence in Syria, to send members of the factions to Afghanistan, specifically to Kabul,” said the Observatory, noting that combatants were also sent to Libya and the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Unlike previous deployments to Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh, fighters will be sent to Afghanistan after getting enlisted in Turkish security companies with official contracts.

“Turkish intelligence will work to recruit these people into Turkish security companies with official contracts and deploy them officially,” explained the Observatory.

There was no official comment from Ankara or Syrian opposition factions on the report, but the Observatory said that the operation is likely to start in September.

“Turkish intelligence will supervise the process of selecting Syrian personnel--because they do not trust faction leaders,” noted the Observatory.

According to the human rights watchdog, the main task of those deployed to Afghanistan will be to protect Kabul airport, government facilities, and headquarters and guard international forces.

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World

Leaders of Japan and South Korea Discuss Economy and Regional Challenges at Summit

13 January 2026, Japan, Nara: Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shakes hands with South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung at the start of their summit meeting in Nara. (dpa)
13 January 2026, Japan, Nara: Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shakes hands with South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung at the start of their summit meeting in Nara. (dpa)
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Leaders of Japan and South Korea Discuss Economy and Regional Challenges at Summit

13 January 2026, Japan, Nara: Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shakes hands with South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung at the start of their summit meeting in Nara. (dpa)
13 January 2026, Japan, Nara: Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shakes hands with South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung at the start of their summit meeting in Nara. (dpa)

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi agreed to step up cooperation between the neighbors, whose relations are occasionally strained, as they both face growing uncertainty and regional challenges.

"I believe cooperation between Korea and Japan is now more important than ever and anything else, as we have to continue moving forward to a new, better future amid this complex, unstable international order," Lee said at the outset of the summit Tuesday.

Takaichi said she renewed her determination to further improve Japan's relations with South Korea “as I believe the two countries should cooperate and contribute for the stability in the region.”

“This year I will elevate Japan-South Korea relations even higher," said Takaichi, who aims to secure stable ties with Seoul while Tokyo struggles with a worsening dispute with China.

The meeting could deliver a political win as Takaichi seeks to shore up her power. A few months after taking office, she enjoys strong approval ratings but her party has a majority in only one of two houses of Parliament. There is growing speculation she may be planning a snap election in hopes of gaining more seats.

Takaichi is hosting Lee in her hometown, Nara, an ancient capital known for its treasured deer and centuries-old Buddhist temples, following a request by Lee during the October APEC meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea.

Nara, the center of cultural exchanges between the Korean Peninsula and Japan in ancient times, “carries a special meaning at a time Korea-Japan exchanges are more important than ever," Lee said.

Takaichi was in Nara on Monday to prepare and posted on X: “I hope to further push forward Japan’s relations with South Korea in the forward-looking way as we meet in the ancient capital of Nara with more than 1,300 years of history and longstanding cultural exchanges between Japan and the Korean Peninsula.”

The Japanese prime minister faces intensifying trade and political tension with China over a remark about Taiwan that angered Beijing days after she took office. Takaichi said that potential Chinese military action against Taiwan, the island democracy Beijing claims as its own, could justify Japanese intervention.

Tuesday's meeting was intended to focus on trade and the challenges of China and North Korea, as well as efforts to deepen trust between the two countries.

Japan and South Korea, both key US allies, must also figure out how to deal with President Donald Trump’s unpredictable diplomacy, and both countries are under US pressure to increase defense spending.

Lee was in Beijing last week for talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as China steps up economic and political pressure against Japan and seeks to cozy up to Seoul. During the visit, the South Korean leader told reporters that relations with Japan are as important as those with China but that South Korea's ability to broker reconciliation between its neighbors is limited.

Lee, in an interview Monday with Japan’s NHK television, noted his interest in gaining Japanese backing for South Korea's participation the 12-member Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. He said that would involve South Korea lifting a ban on imports from Fukushima and nearby Japanese prefectures affected by the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and may take time because of health concerns among South Koreans.

Lee also said his country wants to cooperate with Japan on security under a trilateral framework that includes the US, but “what’s really important is the issue of deep mutual trust.”

Relations between Seoul and Tokyo have begun improving in recent years in the face of shared challenges such as growing China-US competition and North Korea’s advancing nuclear program.

There were early concerns about Takaichi's ability to work with Lee, fed by her reputation as a security hawk and an assumption by some that the left-wing South Korean leader would tilt toward North Korea and China. But so far, both leaders have sought to set aside their differences.

While the two leaders are expected to avoid discussing their historical disputes, media reports say they may discuss possible humanitarian cooperation in the ongoing effort to recover remains from a former undersea mining site in western Japan where 180 workers, mostly Korean forced laborers, were killed in a 1942 accident.

Arab World

Gaza Deal: Cairo Talks Aim to Settle Sector’s ‘Administrative Committee’

Displaced Palestinians stand beside a pool of rainwater amid makeshift shelters at the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza (AFP). 
Displaced Palestinians stand beside a pool of rainwater amid makeshift shelters at the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza (AFP). 
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Gaza Deal: Cairo Talks Aim to Settle Sector’s ‘Administrative Committee’

Displaced Palestinians stand beside a pool of rainwater amid makeshift shelters at the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza (AFP). 
Displaced Palestinians stand beside a pool of rainwater amid makeshift shelters at the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza (AFP). 

Cairo is hosting renewed consultations on the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which entered into force on Oct. 10, following the arrival of a delegation from Hamas and amid anticipation of an announcement on the committee that will administer the territory.

Experts told Asharq Al-Awsat that the talks provide an important boost at a critical moment for the second phase of the Gaza agreement, which has been stalled for some time. They stressed that moving forward hinges largely on US will and pressure on Israel.

A Palestinian source said Monday that a Hamas delegation headed by the movement’s leader, Khalil al-Hayya, arrived in Cairo to discuss the second phase and push ahead with the ceasefire deal. The source added that indications suggest the Gaza administration committee will be finalized during the Cairo round, with factions briefed on the names, particularly after recent changes prompted by Israeli objections.

Hamas Political Bureau member Mohammed Nazzal said in televised remarks Sunday night that the delegation would discuss follow-up on implementing the ceasefire amid “major difficulties hindering its application and continued Israeli violations.”

He said the delegation would hold meetings with Palestinian factions and forces, as well as with Egyptian officials, to discuss several files linked to the agreement.

These include ways to consolidate the ceasefire and move to subsequent phases, alongside key issues - foremost the formation of a Palestinian technocratic committee to administer Gaza - aimed at preventing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from reneging on or delaying the deal.

Former Egyptian assistant foreign minister and member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Rakha Ahmed Hassan, said the Cairo consultations are highly significant and could revive the stalled agreement.

He pointed to anticipation surrounding US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a Peace Council, followed by the Gaza administration committee, adding that discussions would also cover approaches to dealing with weapons in Gaza to undercut Netanyahu’s justifications.

He suggested Hamas would press for full implementation of the first phase first, including opening the Rafah crossing from the Palestinian side, increasing aid, maintaining the ceasefire, and Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in parallel with any later steps.

On the Egyptian front, Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty stressed, during a Cairo meeting with Irish Minister for Migration, Trade and Defense Helen McEntee, the importance of announcing a temporary Palestinian technocratic committee to manage daily affairs in Gaza and forming an international stabilization force.

 

 

 

Sports

Williams Loses Golden Oldie Clash in Final Australian Open Warm-up

Venus Williams of the United States reacts during a press conference following her match against Tatjana Maria of Germany at the Hobart International tennis tournament in Hobart, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Chris Kidd/AAP Image via AP)
Venus Williams of the United States reacts during a press conference following her match against Tatjana Maria of Germany at the Hobart International tennis tournament in Hobart, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Chris Kidd/AAP Image via AP)
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Williams Loses Golden Oldie Clash in Final Australian Open Warm-up

Venus Williams of the United States reacts during a press conference following her match against Tatjana Maria of Germany at the Hobart International tennis tournament in Hobart, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Chris Kidd/AAP Image via AP)
Venus Williams of the United States reacts during a press conference following her match against Tatjana Maria of Germany at the Hobart International tennis tournament in Hobart, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Chris Kidd/AAP Image via AP)

Venus Williams was dumped out of the Hobart International in straight sets by Tatjana Maria Tuesday to dent her Australian Open preparations in a historic clash between two players with a combined age of 83.

It was the second consecutive tournament in which the 45-year-old Williams had crashed at the first hurdle after last week's Auckland Classic.

She survived 87 minutes in Hobart against German world number 42 Maria, who is 38, before slumping 6-4, 6-3, having gamely saved six of nine break points.

The first meeting between the pair set a new record for the highest combined age for a main draw match since the WTA Tour was founded in 1973.

Maria said her daughters Charlotte, 12, and Cecilia, four, were probably cheering for Williams, one of their favorite players.

"Everybody loves Venus. I love her too," said Maria.

"For me, to play her was such an honor because I never played her before. It was not easy with all the wind but it was amazing."

Maria last year became the oldest WTA Tour singles winner since Serena Williams in 2020 when she won at Queen's Club in London.

She moves on to a last-16 clash with Hungary's Anna Bondar.

American seven-time Grand Slam champion Williams will now head to Melbourne for the Australian Open, where she has been handed a wildcard five years after she last played there.

Williams, who has played only sporadically in recent years, will be the oldest woman ever at the opening Grand Slam of the year, which begins on Sunday.

Two-time Grand Slam winner Barbora Krejcikova also lost in the first round, needing treatment and strapping on her knee before tumbling out 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7/4) to American Peyton Stearns.

The Czech former world number two, now ranked 55, ended her season early last year because of a knee injury, but successfully got through three matches in the United Cup last week, picking up two wins.

Krejcikova, who won the French Open in 2021 and Wimbledon in 2024, missed last year's Australian Open with a back injury.