Erdogan Says Putin Asked Him to Cooperate with Assad Regime

 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin... Close Relations and Coordination in Syria (DPA)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin... Close Relations and Coordination in Syria (DPA)
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Erdogan Says Putin Asked Him to Cooperate with Assad Regime

 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin... Close Relations and Coordination in Syria (DPA)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin... Close Relations and Coordination in Syria (DPA)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin asked him to cooperate with Bashar al-Assad’s regime to resolve the Syrian crisis.

He assured Putin that the Turkish intelligence service is cooperating with the Syrian intelligence in this regard, but what is important is the outcome of this coordination.

“As long as the two intelligence services are working on the matter, we need Russia’s support, and there are agreements and understandings between the two countries in this regard.”

Erdogan made the remarks from the plane on his way back to Turkey, a day after the two leaders met at the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The meeting reaffirmed the divergence of positions between the two sides and underscored Moscow’s rejection of a possible Turkish military operation in northern Syria.

Erdogan said Putin adheres to a “fair approach” to Turkey on the Syrian issue and supports Ankara in the fight against terrorism.

The Turkish leader said he discussed with his Russian counterpart the possibility of carrying out a cross-border operation in Syria.

He pointed to their discussion on steps to be taken against terrorist organizations in Syria and agreed to take necessary actions to protect the country’s territorial integrity.

“We agreed on the decision to grant Turkey the right to respond to attacks on its security forces and squadrons of killers who attack civilian citizens,” Erdogan stressed.

In a statement issued after the talks that lasted four hours, Putin and Erdogan underlined the “key importance of sincere, frank and trusting ties between Russia and Turkey for regional and global stability.”

Since May, Erdogan has been talking about Turkey’s plans to launch a new military operation in Syria against the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in an effort to link up two areas already under Turkish control in the northern region near the Turkish border.

Erdogan said the aim is to create a 30-km safe zone along the Turkish border with Syria.

Ankara sees the YPG as the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU. The PKK has been rebelling against the Turkish government for over 30 years.

However, the United States and European countries rejected such step, and so did Russia and Iran, which support the Syrian regime.



Report Says Israeli Settlers Used Grazing to Grab Swathes of West Bank Land

20 July 2022, Israel, Barkan: Right-wing settlers march to build a settlement in the West Bank near Barkan. (dpa)
20 July 2022, Israel, Barkan: Right-wing settlers march to build a settlement in the West Bank near Barkan. (dpa)
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Report Says Israeli Settlers Used Grazing to Grab Swathes of West Bank Land

20 July 2022, Israel, Barkan: Right-wing settlers march to build a settlement in the West Bank near Barkan. (dpa)
20 July 2022, Israel, Barkan: Right-wing settlers march to build a settlement in the West Bank near Barkan. (dpa)

A report by Israeli settlement watchdogs says settlers have used grazing to seize control of 14 percent of the occupied West Bank through the establishment of shepherding outposts in recent years.

In their report, "The Bad Samaritan", Israeli NGOs Peace Now and Kerem Navot said that in the past three years, 70 percent of all land seized by settlers was "taken under the guise of grazing activities".

Settlers in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, use herding to establish a presence on agricultural lands used by Palestinian communities and gradually deny them access to these areas, according to the report.

To force Palestinians out, settlers resort to harassment, intimidation and violence, "with the backing of the Israeli government and military", the watchdogs said.

"Israeli authorities make living conditions very difficult, but settler violence is really the main trigger why people leave lately -- they have nothing to protect themselves", said Allegra Pacheco, director of the West Bank Protection Consortium, a group of international NGOs.

"People get very worried about their families and their safety", and have no recourse when settlers start occupying their lands, she told AFP.

Excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, the West Bank is home to around 490,000 Israelis living in settlements and outposts considered illegal under international law.

Around three million Palestinians live in the West Bank.

On Friday, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that "Israeli settlers injured 23 Palestinians in one week, mainly in Bedouin and herding communities".

That same week, between March 11 and 17, "two Palestinian families were displaced, and at least two houses, eight vehicles and 180 Palestinian-owned trees and saplings were vandalized" in incidents involving settlers.

More than 60 entire Palestinian shepherding communities throughout the West Bank have been expelled using such methods since 2022, the report added.

These communities are overwhelmingly in the West Bank's Area C, which under the Oslo Accords signed in the 1990s falls under full Israeli control.

In recent months, several Israeli far-right politicians including some in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government have suggested taking advantage of the friendly US administration under President Donald Trump to annex part or all of the West Bank in 2025.

"The systematic and violent displacement of Palestinians from hundreds of thousands of dunam of land in recent years has undoubtedly laid the groundwork to facilitate such ambitions", the new report said of annexation, using a traditional measure of land area equivalent to 1,000 square meters.