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Erdogan: Discussed with Putin Elections in N. Syria, Damascus Won’t Allow Them

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan looks on during a family photograph with G7 heads of States and heads of delegation of Outreach countries at Borgo Egnazia resort during the G7 Summit hosted by Italy, in Savelletri, on June 14, 2024. (AFP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan looks on during a family photograph with G7 heads of States and heads of delegation of Outreach countries at Borgo Egnazia resort during the G7 Summit hosted by Italy, in Savelletri, on June 14, 2024. (AFP)
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Erdogan: Discussed with Putin Elections in N. Syria, Damascus Won’t Allow Them

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan looks on during a family photograph with G7 heads of States and heads of delegation of Outreach countries at Borgo Egnazia resort during the G7 Summit hosted by Italy, in Savelletri, on June 14, 2024. (AFP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan looks on during a family photograph with G7 heads of States and heads of delegation of Outreach countries at Borgo Egnazia resort during the G7 Summit hosted by Italy, in Savelletri, on June 14, 2024. (AFP)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed on Saturday that he had discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin elections that are set for regions held by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria.

Speaking to reporters during his return from visits to Spain and Italy, he said: “There are no elections there... a game is being played to give legitimacy to a terrorist organization.” He was referring to the Kurdistan Workers' Party and the SDF and its armed wing, the People’s Protection Units (YPG).

“Our previous operations have demonstrated our skill in breaking games,” added Erdogan.

“There is no doubt that the Syrian administration in Damascus will not grant them permission to hold the elections or take steps in that direction,” he went on say.

He added that Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had discussed this issue with Putin and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

“We hope the separatist terrorist PKK and other groups won’t be able to operate freely in Syria,” stressed Erdogan.

Moreover, he warned that Türkiye was ready to “amass all of its forces when needed” should the elections be held.

“We will not allow the terrorists to claim a foothold right under our nose. We will not hesitate to do what is necessary about this,” he vowed.

The Kurdish autonomous authorities in northeastern Syria will hold elections on August 8. They were postponed from June 11 at the request of some parties.

Ankara has repeatedly threatened to carry out a new military operation in northern Syria to prevent the elections from being held. It has also repeatedly demanded that the poll be cancelled.

The United States, which backs the SDF, has said conditions are not right to hold free and transparent elections.

In an address to the Turkish people on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, Erdogan said Türkiye was determined to fight terrorism and the PKK, which has undermined the security of the country for over 40 years.

“We will not allow it to become a source of threat to the southern borders,” he declared.

Also on Saturday, the Turkish Defense Ministry announced that nine members of the YPG were “eliminated” in northern and northeastern Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, meanwhile, revealed that Turkish forces were establishing a new “defensive line” stretching from Turkish-Russian de-escalation zones in the eastern Idlib countryside and spanning some 20 towns and villages.

The rights monitor said the Turkish forces were digging trenches and setting up barricades to protect main roads and supply routes in anticipation of any military escalation.

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Arab World

Syria Sentences to Death Former Regime Informant as Moscow Says Took in Assad on Humanitarian Grounds

The fourth Criminal Court of the transitional justice in Damascus sentences former regime informant Abdel Nasser Buraqi to death. (SANA)
The fourth Criminal Court of the transitional justice in Damascus sentences former regime informant Abdel Nasser Buraqi to death. (SANA)
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Syria Sentences to Death Former Regime Informant as Moscow Says Took in Assad on Humanitarian Grounds

The fourth Criminal Court of the transitional justice in Damascus sentences former regime informant Abdel Nasser Buraqi to death. (SANA)
The fourth Criminal Court of the transitional justice in Damascus sentences former regime informant Abdel Nasser Buraqi to death. (SANA)

The fourth Criminal Court of the transitional justice in Damascus issued on Thursday a death sentence against former regime informant Abdel Nasser Buraqi after convicting him of grave crimes during the rule of ousted President Bashar al-Assad.

The accusations include forced disappearance, denial of freedom, participation in murder, torture leading to death, theft and criminal defamation.

Lawyer Radif Mustafa, Director of the Accountability and Justice Department at the National Commission for Transitional Justice, told the state news agency SANA that the court relied on international law to characterize the offenses as war crimes and crimes against humanity, in line with the Constitutional Declaration, to determine the nature, gravity, and causes of the crimes. Meanwhile, the court based its sentencing on the provisions of Syrian national law

Mustafa said the court decided to merge the sentences and apply the harshest penalty, which is execution.

It upheld the provisional seizure of the convict's assets, converting it into an executive seizure, and denied him any discretionary mitigating circumstances due to the massive scale and gravity of the committed crimes, he said in a post on Facebook.

He added that the ruling was a "the first judicial precedent in Syria's history."

"While informants were protected during the era of the ousted regime, they are now facing justice. This is the group that harmed people the most," he stressed.

Meanwhile, internal security forces in Latakia announced the arrest of Major Generals Haitham Barakat and Marwan Barakat, both officers from the ousted regime, during an operation in the city of Qardaha.

This operation follows several similar ones across various governorates. Security forces in Daraa announced on August 15 the arrest of Musab Abu Rukba, a former regime lieutenant colonel in the Raqqa Political Security branch.

The forces said the arrests are part of counter-terrorism efforts aimed at strengthening security and stability.

Separately, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia granted Assad asylum on humanitarian grounds, not political ones.

Speaking at a press conference during which she was asked whether Moscow would turn him over to the new Syrian authorities, she replied: "There were and are no political grounds behind his stay in our country. The decision was made solely on humanitarian grounds: the dramatic circumstances of the change of power in Syria meant that he and his family faced death."

The authorities in Syria sentenced Assad to death in absentia earlier in August.

Arab World

Reports Accuse Netanyahu of Holding Secret Talks with Hamas in 2014

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (dpa)  
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (dpa)  
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Reports Accuse Netanyahu of Holding Secret Talks with Hamas in 2014

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (dpa)  
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (dpa)  

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held direct contact and negotiations with Hamas behind the security establishment's back in 2014, reports in Tel Aviv said on Thursday, inciting upheaval in the Israeli political arena.

The Prime Minister’s Office denied Thursday’s reports, describing it as a “powerful blow” to the PM and his Likud party in the run-up to Israel's elections scheduled for late October.

The reports from the Walla news site and Maariv newspaper said Netanyahu maintained a secret, direct channel of communication with Hamas during Operation Protective Edge in 2014 without informing senior Israeli security officials.

Operation Protective Edge began in July 2014 following a limited exchange of rocket fire between Hamas and Israeli forces in Gaza. The war was preceded by a critical flashpoint when a settler kidnapped and murdered Mohammed Abu Khdeir, a 16-year-old Palestinian boy.

In the 50-day war, more than 2,251 Palestinians were killed, mostly civilians. Israel put the number of its dead at 69 soldiers and five civilians. Israeli air strikes and shelling hammered the densely populated Gaza Strip, dominated by Hamas, causing widespread destruction of thousands of homes and schools.

At the time, official negotiations were underway in Cairo to end the monthlong war, the reports said, adding that the Cairo delegation was unaware of Netanyahu’s backchannel talks.

During official talks in the Egyptian capital, the PM was put in contact with Hamas official Ghazi Hamad by Shlomi Fogel, an Israeli businessman who leads major companies in the maritime, real estate, cement, and construction sectors.

At the time, opposition Knesset Member Yulia Malinovsky officially filed a police complaint following a major investigative report revealing that Netanyahu authorized a secret, direct communication channel with Hamas during the 2014 Gaza war.

Israeli journalist Ben Caspit wrote on Thursday that officials had learned that Fogel, who was close to Netanyahu, was the person conducting the talks with Hamad.

At the time, Hamad served as deputy minister in the Hamas government in Gaza.

Fogel was operating under the guidance of then-National Security Council chief Yossi Cohen.

Senior defense officials confronted Netanyahu and asked him for an explanation. Netanyahu denied the matter and instructed them to contact Fogel and ask him to stop. However, it later became clear that Fogel had been acting with authorization and approval, behind the defense establishment’s back.

The journalist then uncovered that Fogel was initially warned, but after he continued the contacts despite the warning, officials discovered that he was acting with Netanyahu’s approval.

On Thursday, the PM’s Office issued a statement denying the publication, stating the report was based on “false briefings by political elements trying to harm the Prime Minister.”

"There was no such thing, and there will never be. Prime Minister Netanyahu has never approved such contacts," Netanyahu's office stated.

Additionally, Fogel's representative said the report was “Fake news.”

But both denials could not stop the storm of attacks issued mainly by military and intelligence chiefs, who denounced the direct talks with Hamas as “stabbing in the back” and “bypassing the security services.”

Yisrael Beytenu chair Avigdor Liberman declared in response to the report that the prime minister is a “danger to Israel’s security.”

“While I sought to eliminate Hamas, the PM was running secret talks with Hamas behind the Israeli army and intelligence officials,” he said.

Yashar chair and election frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot said in response to the report that “every day, the explanation for why Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting for his life to thwart the establishment of a state committee of inquiry... becomes clearer.”

Former prime minister and current head of the B’Yachad party, Naftali Bennett, who was a cabinet minister under Netanyahu in 2014, posted to X that the prime minister is “no longer capable of taking care of our security and certainly not of overcoming the enemy.”

 

 

Arab World

Strong 6.0-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes in Gulf of Aden

The shallow quake hit at 12:07 am local time. (Reuters)
The shallow quake hit at 12:07 am local time. (Reuters)
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Strong 6.0-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes in Gulf of Aden

The shallow quake hit at 12:07 am local time. (Reuters)
The shallow quake hit at 12:07 am local time. (Reuters)

A strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck Friday morning in the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported.

The shallow quake hit at 12:07 am local time (2107 GMT Thursday), about 145 kilometers off the Somali coast, the USGS added.