Ankara Links Idlib Escalation to Putin-Erdogan Summit

 A Russian airstrike hits western Aleppo in northern Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A Russian airstrike hits western Aleppo in northern Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Ankara Links Idlib Escalation to Putin-Erdogan Summit

 A Russian airstrike hits western Aleppo in northern Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A Russian airstrike hits western Aleppo in northern Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Russian warplanes are intensely pounding Syria’s northwestern Idlib province to add pressure on Ankara ahead of an anticipated meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi, according to a senior Turkish official.

By the end of September, a tripartite summit, including Iran, will be held in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi under the Astana process.

Speaking to Hürriyet Daily News under the conditions of anonymity, the senior official said that the “main agenda point is Syria, namely Idlib.” They were referring to planned talks in Sochi.

“The conditions set out in the Idlib agreement have not been fully implemented,” they added.

An agreement signed in March 2020 had followed weeks of fighting that brought Turkey and Russia close to conflict and displaced nearly a million people.

The official added that the intense strikes launched by Russian and Syrian warplanes on targets in Idlib in recent weeks indicate that the calm that has prevailed in the region since the March 2020 agreement had started to change.

Moscow is trying to pressure Turkey through its sudden escalation of airstrikes in Idlib, the official explained.

In an article published by Hürriyet, Turkish writer and analyst Sedat Ergin said that Moscow and Damascus stepping up their airstrikes in Idlib over the last few weeks aims to redirect Turkey’s attention away from developments in Afghanistan.

Ergin warns that Turkey could be looking at a future like that of Afghanistan in Idlib.

“The sudden increase in Russian air attacks in Idlib is possibly aimed at putting pressure on Ankara for other political reasons,” said Ergin, highlighting that the strikes come just a few days away from the anticipated talks in Sochi.

For Ergin, Russia is “trying to reinforce its negotiating position by conducting more strikes ahead of the summit.”



Tunisia Activists Launch Gaza-bound Convoy in 'Symbolic Act'

 Tunisians gather at a meeting point in Tunis on June 9, 2025, ahead of the departure of a land convoy named “Steadfastness” to break the siege on Gaza. (AFP)
Tunisians gather at a meeting point in Tunis on June 9, 2025, ahead of the departure of a land convoy named “Steadfastness” to break the siege on Gaza. (AFP)
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Tunisia Activists Launch Gaza-bound Convoy in 'Symbolic Act'

 Tunisians gather at a meeting point in Tunis on June 9, 2025, ahead of the departure of a land convoy named “Steadfastness” to break the siege on Gaza. (AFP)
Tunisians gather at a meeting point in Tunis on June 9, 2025, ahead of the departure of a land convoy named “Steadfastness” to break the siege on Gaza. (AFP)

Hundreds of people, mainly Tunisians, launched on Monday a land convoy bound for Gaza, seeking to "break the siege" on the Palestinian territory, activists said.

Organizers said the nine-bus convoy was not bringing aid into Gaza, but rather aimed at carrying out a "symbolic act" by breaking the blockade on the territory described by the United Nations as "the hungriest place on Earth".

The "Soumoud" convoy, meaning "steadfastness" in Arabic, includes doctors and aims to arrive in Rafah, in southern Gaza, "by the end of the week", activist Jawaher Channa told AFP.

It is set to pass through Libya and Egypt, although Cairo has yet to provide passage permits, she added.

"We are about a thousand people, and we will have more join us along the way," said Channa, spokeswoman of the Tunisian Coordination of Joint Action for Palestine, the group organizing the caravan.

"Egypt has not yet given us permission to cross its borders, but we will see what happens when we get there," she said.

Channa said the convoy was not set to face issues crossing Libya, "whose people have historically supported the Palestinian cause", despite recent deadly clashes in the country that remains divided between two governments.

Algerian, Mauritanian, Moroccan and Libyan activists were also among the group, which is set to travel along the Tunisian and Libyan coasts, before continuing on to Rafah through Egypt.

After 21 months of war, Israel is facing mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza to alleviate widespread shortages of food and basic supplies.

On June 1, the Madleen aid boat, boarded by activists including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and European parliament member Franco-Palestinian Rima Hassan, set sail for Gaza from Italy.

But on Monday morning Israel intercepted it, preventing it from reaching the Palestinian territory.

The UN has warned that the Palestinian territory's entire population is at risk of famine.