Wide Arab Participation Expected at Algeria Summit

Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Ambassador Hossam Zaki meets with Algerian officials on Thursday. (Algerian foreign ministry)
Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Ambassador Hossam Zaki meets with Algerian officials on Thursday. (Algerian foreign ministry)
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Wide Arab Participation Expected at Algeria Summit

Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Ambassador Hossam Zaki meets with Algerian officials on Thursday. (Algerian foreign ministry)
Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Ambassador Hossam Zaki meets with Algerian officials on Thursday. (Algerian foreign ministry)

Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Ambassador Hossam Zaki said he discussed with Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad Ramtane Lamamra the logistic arrangements and agenda of the upcoming League summit in Algeria.

In an interview with Algeria Press Service, Zaki said he expects wide participation by Arab leaders at the summit, which is scheduled for November.

He added that he discussed with Lamamra all issues related to the summit.

Everyone is aware that the meeting of Arab leaders at this time is very significant, he stressed, noting that the Arab League hasn’t met in person since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Zaki hoped that the summit would achieve at least some of the hopes and aspirations of Arab peoples in issues related to stability, peace and security.

Moreover, he noted that the summit will be held as Algeria marks the anniversary of its revolution against French colonization.

“The Algerians and their Arab brothers will celebrate the occasion together,” Zaki said.

Addressing the Palestinian-Arab “reunion”, which is the slogan of the summit, he remarked that the event will act as a real starting point for more effective Arab work.

The current situation in the Arab world demands that greater efforts be exerted to achieve the reunion, he went on to say.

The Algerian leadership is very keen on this issue, he stressed.

On the division between Palestinian factions, Zaki said this is an “issue that pains us as Arabs.”

Algeria has taken its upon itself to host dialogue between Palestinians ahead of the summit.

A date has not been set yet for the talks.

Zaki stressed that efforts between Arab countries to achieve rapprochement between Palestinians has not ceased and “we hope Algerian efforts will help the years-long division.”



Erdogan: Kurdish Militia in Syria Will Be Buried If They Do Not Lay Down Arms

A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
TT

Erdogan: Kurdish Militia in Syria Will Be Buried If They Do Not Lay Down Arms

A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Kurdish fighters in Syria will either lay down their weapons or "be buried", amid hostilities between Türkiye-backed Syrian fighters and the militants since the fall of Bashar al-Assad this month.
Following Assad's departure, Ankara has repeatedly insisted that the Kurdish YPG group must disband, asserting that the group has no place in Syria's future. The change in Syria's leadership has left the country's main Kurdish factions on the back foot.
"The separatist murderers will either bid farewell to their weapons, or they will be buried in Syrian lands along with their weapons," Erdogan told lawmakers from his ruling AK Party in parliament.
"We will eradicate the terrorist organization that is trying to weave a wall of blood between us and our Kurdish siblings," he added.
Türkiye views the Kurdish YPG group- the main component of the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militia, which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.
The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union. Ankara has repeatedly called on its NATO ally Washington and others to stop supporting the YPG.
Earlier, Türkiye's defense ministry said the armed forces had killed 21 YPG-PKK militants in northern Syria and Iraq.
In a Reuters interview last week, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi acknowledged the presence of PKK fighters in Syria for the first time, saying they had helped battle ISIS and would return home if a total ceasefire was agreed with Türkiye, a core demand from Ankara.
He denied any organizational ties with the PKK.
Erdogan also said Türkiye would soon open its consulate in Aleppo, and added Ankara expected an increase in traffic at its borders in the summer of next year, as some of the millions of Syrian migrants it hosts begin returning.