عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Russia’s Kremlin Speeds Up Tartus Base Expansion

The Tartus naval base on Syria's Mediterranean Sea coast has been used by the Russian navy since the early 1970s, but has recently taken on a new -- and unclear -- purpose. Above, the Russian amphibious landing vessel Caesar Kunikov (left) is shown leaving the bay of the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Sevastopol June 19, 2012. Photo: Reuters/Stringer
The Tartus naval base on Syria's Mediterranean Sea coast has been used by the Russian navy since the early 1970s, but has recently taken on a new -- and unclear -- purpose. Above, the Russian amphibious landing vessel Caesar Kunikov (left) is shown leaving the bay of the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Sevastopol June 19, 2012. Photo: Reuters/Stringer
TT
TT

Russia’s Kremlin Speeds Up Tartus Base Expansion

The Tartus naval base on Syria's Mediterranean Sea coast has been used by the Russian navy since the early 1970s, but has recently taken on a new -- and unclear -- purpose. Above, the Russian amphibious landing vessel Caesar Kunikov (left) is shown leaving the bay of the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Sevastopol June 19, 2012. Photo: Reuters/Stringer
The Tartus naval base on Syria's Mediterranean Sea coast has been used by the Russian navy since the early 1970s, but has recently taken on a new -- and unclear -- purpose. Above, the Russian amphibious landing vessel Caesar Kunikov (left) is shown leaving the bay of the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Sevastopol June 19, 2012. Photo: Reuters/Stringer

Russian President Vladimir Putin has referred the expansion of the Russian naval facility in Tartus to the State Duma. The parliament, in turn, confirmed its readiness to ratify the agreement by the end of this year.

State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house being the Council of the Federation.

The agreement was signed by the Russian Defense Ministry and the Syrian regime’s Defense Ministry on January 18, 2017, in Damascus.

Under the terms of the agreement, Russia has the right to use the naval base for 49 years, a period which commences as of signing and can be automatically extended for an additional quarter a century, without a fee.

Eleven Russian naval vessels are allowed to coincidentally dock at the base. Russia had begun construction on the extension before the signing of the agreement.

Russian labor aims to transform the base into a major hub able to host Russian fleet vessels, including nuclear submarines. The agreement also grants Russian individuals and their families present at the base diplomatic immunity across Syrian territory.

The Russian government announced on December 5 that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed the Tartus agreement and referred it to the Russian presidency for approval, and later presented it to both Houses of the Russian Parliament for ratification.

Russian parliamentary speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said that the council plans to ratify the agreement by the end of this year.

"If the Duma sees to the agreement hastily, we are ready to ratify it by the end of the year," said Frants Klintsevich, First Deputy Head of the Federation Council (upper house) Committee on Defense and Security.

The move comes to litigate all arrangements to use Tartus base, while the withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria continues at an "active" pace for the second day in a row.

Meanwhile, Russia’s special operations medical team returned home from Syria. According to data from the Russian Defense Ministry, over 200 military medical personnel were deployed on Syrian territory.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Italy Arrests 7 Accused of Raising Millions for Hamas

Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
TT
TT

Italy Arrests 7 Accused of Raising Millions for Hamas

Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Italian police said Saturday that they have arrested seven people suspected of raising millions of euros for Palestinian group Hamas.

Police also issued international arrests for two others outside the country, said AFP.

Three associations, officially supporting Palestinian civilians but allegedly serving as a front for funding Hamas, are implicated in the investigation, said a police statement.

The nine individuals are accused of having financed approximately seven million euros ($8 million) to "associations based in Gaza, the Palestinian territories, or Israel, owned, controlled, or linked to Hamas."

While the official objective of the three associations was to collect donations "for humanitarian purposes for the Palestinian people," more than 71 percent was earmarked for the direct financing of Hamas" or entities affiliated with the movement, according to police.

Some of the money went to "family members implicated in terrorist attacks," the statement said.

Among those arrested was Mohammad Hannoun, president of the Palestinian Association in Italy, according to media reports.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi posted on X that the operation "lifted the veil on behavior and activities which, pretending to be initiatives in favor of the Palestinian population, concealed support for and participation in terrorist organizations."

Arab World

Türkiye Holds Military Funeral for Libyan Officers Killed in Plane Crash

The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
TT
TT

Türkiye Holds Military Funeral for Libyan Officers Killed in Plane Crash

The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)

Türkiye held a military funeral ceremony Saturday morning for five Libyan officers, including western Libya’s military chief, who died in a plane crash earlier this week.

The private jet with Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad, four other military officers and three crew members crashed on Tuesday after taking off from Ankara, Türkiye’s capital, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane.

Al-Hadad was the top military commander in western Libya and played a crucial role in the ongoing, UN-brokered efforts to unify Libya’s military.

The high-level Libyan delegation was on its way back to Tripoli, Libya’s capital, after holding defense talks in Ankara aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries.

Saturday's ceremony was held at 8:00 a.m. local time at the Murted Airfield base, near Ankara, and attended by the Turkish military chief and the defense minister. The five caskets, each wrapped in a Libyan national flag, were then loaded onto a plane to be returned to their home country.

Türkiye’s military chief, Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, was also on the plane headed to Libya, state-run news agency TRT reported.

The bodies recovered from the crash site were kept at the Ankara Forensic Medicine Institute for identification. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc told reporters their DNA was compared to family members who joined a 22-person delegation that arrived from Libya after the crash.

Tunc also said Germany was asked to help examine the jet's black boxes as an impartial third party.

Arab World

Syrian Foreign Ministry: Talks with SDF Have Not Yielded Tangible Results

SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
TT
TT

Syrian Foreign Ministry: Talks with SDF Have Not Yielded Tangible Results

SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)

A source from the Syrian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the talks with the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) over their integration into state institutions “have not yielded tangible results.”

Discussions about merging the northeastern institutions into the state remain “hypothetical statements without execution,” it told Syria’s state news agency SANA.

Repeated assertions over Syria’s unity are being contradicted by the reality on the ground in the northeast, where the Kurds hold sway and where administrative, security and military institutions continue to be run separately from the state, it added.

The situation “consolidates the division” instead of addressing it, it warned.

It noted that despite the SDF’s continued highlighting of its dialogue with the Syrian state, these discussions have not led to tangible results.

It seems that the SDF is using this approach to absorb the political pressure on it, said the source. The truth is that there is little actual will to move from discussion to application of the March 10 agreement.

This raises doubts over the SDF’s commitment to the deal, it stressed.

Talk about rapprochement between the state and SDF remains meaningless if the agreement is not implemented on the ground within a specific timeframe, the source remarked.

Furthermore, the continued deployment of armed formations on the ground that are not affiliated with the Syrian army are evidence that progress is not being made.

The persistence of the situation undermines Syria’s sovereignty and hampers efforts to restore stability, it warned.