Turkish FM Says Briefly Met with Syrian Counterpart in Belgrade

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a news conference in Ankara, Turkey June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a news conference in Ankara, Turkey June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan
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Turkish FM Says Briefly Met with Syrian Counterpart in Belgrade

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a news conference in Ankara, Turkey June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a news conference in Ankara, Turkey June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday that he had a “brief conversation” with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement meeting in October in Serbia's capital Belgrade.

Cavusoglu made the remarks on Thursday while addressing reporters on the last day of the 13th Ambassadors Conference that was held in Turkey’s capital Ankara.

He said Russian President Vladimir Putin has long suggested that Turkey communicates directly with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“There have been meetings between the intelligence services of the two countries for some time, and they have recently resumed and are tackling major issues.”

There is the regime and the opposition in Syria, the FM noted, adding that many people died and were displaced during the 11 years of war.

“No one can help in the reconstruction process without reaching a ceasefire,” he stressed, affirming that Turkey will intensify its efforts in this regard.

“We need to bring the opposition and regime together for reconciliation somehow, or there will be no permanent peace otherwise,” he told reporters.

Cavusoglu underscored the need for a strong will to prevent division in Syria, citing unity as the only mean to ensure the state’s control over the territory.

He ruled out the idea of a phone call between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Syrian counterpart anytime soon.

However, Turkiye Newspaper quoted well-informed sources on Tuesday as saying that a phone call may be held between the two leaders, based on a proposal raised by Putin during his meeting with Erdogan in Sochi last week.

Ahead of Friday’s Sochi Summit, Cavusoglu said Ankara was prepared to provide “unlimited political support” for the Syrian government to expel terrorists from northern Syria.

His remarks were in reference to the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara views as a terrorist group.

In May, Turkey announced that it would pursue a full-scale military campaign in northern Syria to complete the establishment of safe zones near its borders. The said zones would extend 30 kilometers deep in Syrian territory.



Hezbollah Says Fired Missiles at Base Near South Israel's Ashdod

Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
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Hezbollah Says Fired Missiles at Base Near South Israel's Ashdod

Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Hezbollah said its fighters on Thursday fired missiles at a military base near south Israel’s Ashdod, the first time it has targeted so deep inside Israel in more than a year of hostilities.

Hezbollah fighters "targeted... for the first time, the Hatzor air base" east of the southern city, around 150 kilometers from Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, "with a missile salvo," the Iran-backed group said in a statement.

A rocket fired from Lebanon killed a man and wounded two others in northern Israel on Thursday, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service.
The service said paramedics found the body of the man in his 30s near a playground in the town of Nahariya, near the border with Lebanon, after a rocket attack on Thursday.
Israel meanwhile struck targets in southern Lebanon and several buildings south of Beirut, the Lebanese capital.

Israel has launched airstrikes against Lebanon after Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after Hamas' attack on Israel last October. A full-blown war erupted in September after nearly a year of lower-level conflict.
More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the country’s Health Ministry, and over 1 million people have been displaced. It is not known how many of those killed were Hezbollah fighters and how many were civilians.
On the Israeli side, Hezbollah’s aerial attacks have killed more than 70 people and driven some 60,000 from their homes.