Jia Kurd to Asharq Al-Awsat: Moscow Meeting Legalizes Turkish Occupation


The head of Foreign Relations at the Kurdish The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syrian (AANES), Badran Jia Kurd (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The head of Foreign Relations at the Kurdish The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syrian (AANES), Badran Jia Kurd (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Jia Kurd to Asharq Al-Awsat: Moscow Meeting Legalizes Turkish Occupation


The head of Foreign Relations at the Kurdish The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syrian (AANES), Badran Jia Kurd (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The head of Foreign Relations at the Kurdish The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syrian (AANES), Badran Jia Kurd (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Badran Jia Kurd, a Kurdish official who heads the foreign relations department of The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syrian (AANES), has warned that the new agreements between Damascus and Ankara "will be at the expense of the Syrian people."

On Tuesday, the quartet meeting at the level of deputy foreign ministers of Türkiye, Russia, Iran, and Syria agreed to continue consultations regarding Syria.

Jia Kurd explained to Asharq Al-Awsat that without clear criteria for a comprehensive political solution to the Syrian situation, any consensus would lead to the political legitimization of the Turkish occupation.

He stressed that these meetings target the Kurdish Autonomous Administration project, saying it was a new attempt to push Syria towards civil war.

The official said the recent meeting in Moscow comes in a preliminary context to improve diplomatic relations between Damascus and Ankara and is a continuation of the Astana meetings.

He noted that the Syrian people do not have high hopes for such meetings, noting that the crisis has become "global," and bilateral or tripartite meetings cannot determine the basic features of the final political solution, especially since the Syrian decision has been usurped.

The meetings are "a waste of time" and a "lost bet on time," said Jia Kurd, adding that such "suspicious meetings cannot bring about a political solution that guarantees the rights of all Syrians."

He believes the talks would further complicate matters in light of Türkiye's destructive role in Syria.

The Kurdish official indicated that the authorities agreed with Damascus in demanding the complete and total withdrawal of Turkish forces from the Syrian territories and the need to stop interfering in internal affairs.

He explained that any process of reconciliation and normalization must occur under international law and the standards governing relations between countries, which would otherwise legitimize the occupation.

Jia Kurd called on the Syrian regime to launch a genuine dialogue with all the Syrian factions, urging Syria to be an active country and engage with its regional and global regions.

The Syrian regime needs to overcome the internal crisis and formulate a new policy for the country, setting guarantees and creating conditions for the return of all Syrians to their areas of origin.

However, the official ruled out reaching "new consensuses" under the current circumstances saying the conditions are not appropriate and not ready for such talks amid the ongoing Turkish occupation of the Syrian lands.

Jia Kurd denied that these meetings would turn overnight into a stabilizing factor and offer solutions amid Türkiye's continued occupation and the endless support for terrorist and extremist groups that commit massacres daily against the people.



Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian Teen in West Bank

Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian Teen in West Bank
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Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian Teen in West Bank

Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian Teen in West Bank

Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian hurling a rock at them in the occupied West Bank, the military said on Friday, and the Palestinian health ministry said the person killed was a 14-year-old boy.

There was no further comment from Palestinian officials about the fatal incident in the village of ⁠Al-Mughayyir. Official Palestinian news agency WAFA said the teen was killed during an Israeli military raid that led to confrontations, Reuters reported.

The Israeli military said its forces were called to the area after ⁠receiving reports that Palestinians were throwing stones at Israelis and blocking a road with burning tires.

The soldiers fired warning shots in an attempt to repel a person who was running at them with a rock, the military said, and then shot and killed him to eliminate the ⁠danger.

Violence has surged over the past year in the West Bank. Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians have risen sharply, while the military has tightened movement restrictions and carried out sweeping raids in several cities.

Palestinians have also carried out attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians, some of them deadly.


Israeli Strikes in South Lebanon Kill Two

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Sohmor, in southern Lebanon on January 15, 2026. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Sohmor, in southern Lebanon on January 15, 2026. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
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Israeli Strikes in South Lebanon Kill Two

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Sohmor, in southern Lebanon on January 15, 2026. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Sohmor, in southern Lebanon on January 15, 2026. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)

An Israeli strike on south Lebanon killed one person on Friday, the health ministry in Beirut said a day after raids that Israel said had targeted Hezbollah.

Israel has kept up regular strikes in Lebanon despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, usually saying it is targeting members of the group or its infrastructure.

In a statement, the health ministry said an "Israeli enemy strike" on a vehicle in Mansuri in south Lebanon killed one person.

According to AFP, it also said that a strike on Mayfadun in south Lebanon the previous night killed one person.

Israel said Thursday's attack killed a Hezbollah member it alleged "took part in attempts to reestablish Hezbollah's infrastructure in the Zawtar al-Sharqiyah area.”

The attacks come a week after Lebanon's military said it had completed disarming Hezbollah south of the Litani River, the first phase of a nationwide plan, although Israel has called those efforts insufficient.

On Thursday, Israel carried out several strikes against eastern Lebanon's Bekaa region, north of the Litani, after issuing warnings to evacuate.

United Nations peacekeepers, deployed in the south to separate Lebanon from Israel, said on Friday that an Israeli drone "dropped a grenade" on its troops.

On Monday, the peacekeeping force said an Israeli tank fired near its troops, and warned that such incidents were becoming "disturbingly common".


Syria's Leader Sharaa in Berlin on Tuesday, Says German Presidency

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
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Syria's Leader Sharaa in Berlin on Tuesday, Says German Presidency

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa will be visiting Berlin next Tuesday and meet his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German presidency said.

The office of Chancellor Friedrich Merz has yet to announce whether they would also hold talks during the visit, which comes at a time when the German government is seeking to step up repatriations of Syrians to their homeland.