Iran Warns Türkiye Against Launching Military Operation in Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (EPA)
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (EPA)
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Iran Warns Türkiye Against Launching Military Operation in Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (EPA)
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (EPA)

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, in a phone conversation, exchanged views on the latest border developments and military conflicts between Türkiye and Syria.

During the talks, Amirabdollahian said Iran understands Türkiye's security concerns and stressed the need to end them.

However, Amirabdollahian said that "achieving that goal necessitates constant security talks between the two countries, said the Iranian foreign minister, adding that a resort to ground military operations will not only fail to solve the problems but will cause damage and complicate the situation."

According to the German news agency, the Iranian foreign minister also expressed Tehran's readiness to provide any assistance to reach a political solution to the existing problems between Türkiye and Syria.

For his part, Cavusoglu explained his country's position on the current situation in Syria, describing Iran's role as "constructive."

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on Türkiye to refrain from any ground invasion of northern Syria or military strikes against the north of Iraq, according to Reuters.

Turkish officials said Monday that its forces need just days to be ready for a ground incursion into northern Syria, which they have been attacking with long-range weapons and warplanes for days.

"I have urgently appealed (Türkiye) to refrain from measures that would further escalate violence – such as a potential ground invasion of northern Syria or military action in northern Iraq," Baerbock said on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Bucharest.

Turkey's bombardments of a Kurdish militia across the border in Syria come after months of threats by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of a new ground invasion against Kurdish forces, which he considers to be terrorists.

"International law applies, of course, when it comes to the protection against acts of terrorism," Baerbock said.

Syria sees Turkey as an occupying force in its north, and Damascus has said it would consider any new Turkish incursions to be "war crimes."



Trump Picks Massad Boulos to Serve as Adviser on Arab, Middle Eastern Affairs

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs autographs alongside Massad Boulos (The AP)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs autographs alongside Massad Boulos (The AP)
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Trump Picks Massad Boulos to Serve as Adviser on Arab, Middle Eastern Affairs

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs autographs alongside Massad Boulos (The AP)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs autographs alongside Massad Boulos (The AP)

US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday said Lebanese American businessman Massad Boulos would serve as senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.

Trump made the announcement on Truth Social. Boulos, the father-in-law of Trump's daughter Tiffany, met repeatedly with Arab American and Muslim leaders during the election campaign, Reuters reported.

It was the second time in recent days that Trump chose the father-in-law of one of his children to serve in his administration.

On Saturday, Trump said that he had picked his son-in-law Jared Kushner's father, real estate mogul Charles Kushner, to serve as US ambassador to France.

In recent months, Boulos campaigned for Trump to drum up Lebanese and Arab American support, even as the US-backed Israel's military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Boulos has powerful roots in both countries.

His father and grandfather were both figures in Lebanese politics and his father-in-law was a key funder of the Free Patriotic Movement, a Christian party aligned with Hezbollah.

His son Michael and Tiffany Trump were married in an elaborate ceremony at Trump's Florida Mar-a-Lago Club in November 2022, after getting engaged in the White House Rose Garden during Trump's first term.

Boulos has been in touch with interlocutors across Lebanon's multipolar political world, three sources who spoke to him in recent months say, a rare feat in Lebanon, where decades-old rivalries between factions run deep.

Boulos is a friend of Suleiman Frangieh, a Christian ally of Hezbollah and its candidate for Lebanon's presidency. He is also in touch with the Lebanese Forces Party, a vehemently anti-Hezbollah Christian faction, the sources say, and has ties to independent lawmakers.