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Türkiye in Talks with Russia About Using Syrian Airspace in Potential Operation

Turkish F-16 jets at Türkiye's Incirlik air base - Reuters
Turkish F-16 jets at Türkiye's Incirlik air base - Reuters
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Türkiye in Talks with Russia About Using Syrian Airspace in Potential Operation

Turkish F-16 jets at Türkiye's Incirlik air base - Reuters
Turkish F-16 jets at Türkiye's Incirlik air base - Reuters

Türkiye is in talks with Russia to use the airspace above northern Syria for a potential cross-border operation against the Syrian Kurdish YPG, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Saturday.

Türkiye has carried out several incursions into northern Syria against the YPG and has been threatening a new incursion for months. It stepped up preparations last month after a deadly bomb attack in Istanbul it blamed on Kurdish militants.

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group and the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), spearheaded by the YPG, have denied involvement in the bombing of the busy pedestrian avenue.

Türkiye launched air strikes against YPG targets in November and President Tayyip Erdogan signaled a possible ground offensive.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Akar said Ankara was in talks with Moscow, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, about the operation.

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Erdogan Says Türkiye Ready to Help with Ceasefire in Gaza

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 19, 2024. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 19, 2024. (Reuters)
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Erdogan Says Türkiye Ready to Help with Ceasefire in Gaza

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 19, 2024. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 19, 2024. (Reuters)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Türkiye was ready to help in any way possible to establish a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, and expressed satisfaction with the ceasefire agreement that has come into effect in Lebanon.

Türkiye, which has fiercely criticized Israel's offensives in Gaza and Lebanon, has previously said it discussed a potential truce in Gaza with Palestinian armed group Hamas and gave the group recommendations on how to proceed with the negotiations.

On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said the United States would again push for an elusive ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza "with Türkiye, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others".

"We are stating that, as Türkiye, we are ready to provide any contribution for the massacre in Gaza to end and for a lasting ceasefire to be achieved," Erdogan told members of his ruling AK Party in parliament.

Asked about Biden's remarks, a Turkish official told Reuters a ceasefire in Lebanon without a truce in Gaza was not enough to achieve regional stability, adding Ankara was ready to help reach a deal in Gaza, just as it had supported previous efforts.

"We are again ready to help achieve a permanent ceasefire and a lasting solution in Gaza," the official said.

While Ankara has repeatedly traded insults with Israel since the outbreak of the Gaza war, it has not officially severed ties with it. Unlike Israel and its Western partners, Türkiye does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization and regularly hosts some of its senior members.