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Pro-Türkiye Syria Groups Reduce Presence in Kurdish Area, Says Official

US-backed Kurdish fighters stand on their vehicles, as they withdraw from two neighborhoods in Syria's northern city of Aleppo as part of a deal with the Syrian central government, in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP)
US-backed Kurdish fighters stand on their vehicles, as they withdraw from two neighborhoods in Syria's northern city of Aleppo as part of a deal with the Syrian central government, in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP)
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Pro-Türkiye Syria Groups Reduce Presence in Kurdish Area, Says Official

US-backed Kurdish fighters stand on their vehicles, as they withdraw from two neighborhoods in Syria's northern city of Aleppo as part of a deal with the Syrian central government, in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP)
US-backed Kurdish fighters stand on their vehicles, as they withdraw from two neighborhoods in Syria's northern city of Aleppo as part of a deal with the Syrian central government, in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP)

Pro-Türkiye Syrian groups have scaled down their military presence in an historically Kurdish-majority area of the country's north which they have controlled since 2018, a Syrian defense ministry official said on Tuesday.

The move follows an agreement signed last month between Syria's new authorities and Kurdish officials that provides for the return of displaced Kurds, including tens of thousands who fled the Afrin region in 2018.

The pro-Ankara groups have "reduced their military presence and checkpoints" in Afrin, in Aleppo province, the official told AFP, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Their presence has been "maintained in the region for now", said the official, adding that authorities wanted to station them in army posts but these had been a regular target of Israeli strikes.

After opposition forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, the new authorities announced the disbanding of all armed groups and their integration into the new army, a move that should include pro-Türkiye groups who control swathes of northern Syria.

Turkish forces and their Syrian proxies carried out an offensive from January to March 2018 targeting Kurdish fighters in the Afrin area.

The United Nations has estimated that half of the enclave's 320,000 inhabitants fled during the offensive.

Last month, the Kurdish administration that controls swathes of northern and northeastern Syria struck a deal to integrate its civil and military institutions into those of the central government.

Syria's new leadership has been seeking to unify the country since the December overthrow of Assad after more than 13 years of civil war.

This month, Kurdish fighters withdrew from two neighborhoods of Aleppo as part of the deal.

Syrian Kurdish official Bedran Kurd said on X that the Aleppo city agreement "represents the first phase of a broader plan aimed at ensuring the safe return of the people of Afrin".

The autonomous Kurdish-led administration's military force, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, played a key role in the recapture of the last territory held by the ISIS group in Syria in 2019.

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Arab World

French FM: Lebanese Army Must be Given 'Means' to Disarm Hezbollah

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot gives a joint press conference with the President of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region in Erbil, the regional capital, on February 5, 2026. (Photo by Safin HAMID / AFP)
France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot gives a joint press conference with the President of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region in Erbil, the regional capital, on February 5, 2026. (Photo by Safin HAMID / AFP)
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French FM: Lebanese Army Must be Given 'Means' to Disarm Hezbollah

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot gives a joint press conference with the President of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region in Erbil, the regional capital, on February 5, 2026. (Photo by Safin HAMID / AFP)
France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot gives a joint press conference with the President of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region in Erbil, the regional capital, on February 5, 2026. (Photo by Safin HAMID / AFP)

Lebanon's army must be given the means to disarm Hezbollah, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told AFP ahead of his expected arrival in Beirut on Friday.

"France's vision for Lebanon is that of a strong, sovereign state holding a monopoly on arms," he said.

"The first step to fulfil this mission is to give the Lebanese Armed Forces the means to continue the work of disarming Hezbollah," added the minister, whose country will host a conference in support of the Lebanese army on March 5.

Hezbollah emerged weakened from its latest war with Israel, which ended in a November 2024 ceasefire agreement.

In line with the agreement, the Lebanese army announced in January that it had completed the first phase of a government plan to disarm Hezbollah, covering the area between the Litani River and the Israeli border about thirty kilometers (20 miles) south.

"The Lebanese government has shouldered its responsibilities by launching and carrying through to completion the first phase of this disarmament plan," Barrot said.

"The second phase must now begin, and the plan associated with this phase is to be presented in the coming days, and in any case before the conference is held," he continued.

The second phase of the plan concerns the area between the Litani and the Awali rivers, around forty kilometers south of Beirut.

Hezbollah has thus far refused to hand over its weapons north of the Litani.

The French foreign minister is due to meet Lebanon's top officials in Beirut on Friday, the final stop of a tour that has taken him to Syria and Iraq.

Arab World

Defense Cooperation Between Egypt and Türkiye: Increasing Influence by Shifting Regional Power Balances

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi receives Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Cairo on Wednesday (Egyptian Presidency).
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi receives Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Cairo on Wednesday (Egyptian Presidency).
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Defense Cooperation Between Egypt and Türkiye: Increasing Influence by Shifting Regional Power Balances

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi receives Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Cairo on Wednesday (Egyptian Presidency).
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi receives Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Cairo on Wednesday (Egyptian Presidency).

Cairo and Ankara are moving to deepen military and defense cooperation, a key focus of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Egypt on Wednesday.

Analysts told Asharq Al-Awsat that the growing partnership aims to restore Egyptian-Turkish influence by reshaping regional power balances, particularly amid concerns over expanding Israeli influence, which they say increasingly threatens the interests of both countries.

The latest step was a military cooperation agreement signed in Cairo in the presence of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Erdogan. The deal was signed by Egypt’s Minister of Defense, Lieutenant General Abdel Mageed Saqr, and Türkiye’s Minister of National Defense, Yasar Guler.

Military ties between Egypt and Türkiye have expanded steadily since 2023, following the full restoration of diplomatic relations and reciprocal presidential visits. This rapprochement has extended into the defense industry, with the two countries recently resuming joint military exercises under the name “Sea of Friendship.”

They have also agreed to cooperate on the joint production of unmanned aerial vehicles, while Cairo has joined Türkiye’s fifth-generation stealth fighter jet program, KAAN.

Bashir Abdel Fattah, an Egyptian academic specializing in international relations, said defense cooperation between the two countries covers several areas. The first involves regular joint exercises aimed at enhancing combat readiness and exchanging military expertise.

The second centers on joint defense manufacturing, including advanced systems such as air defense, missiles, ammunition, drones, and potentially fighter aircraft.

A third dimension, he added, lies in security and intelligence cooperation, particularly through information sharing in counterterrorism efforts, combating piracy in the Mediterranean, and coordination on regional issues such as Libya and Sudan.

Egyptian national security expert Major General Mohamed Abdel Wahid said both countries are keen to strengthen ties because they face similar challenges, including shifting regional power balances and the emergence of new actors.

He argued that these changes have made it necessary for Egypt and Türkiye to reassert their influence, especially in response to Israel’s growing role, prompting a focus on building joint defense capabilities.

Abdel Wahid noted that Türkiye has shown flexibility in transferring technology, without putting strict political conditions often imposed by Western countries or the European Union.

He added that a Turkish company has already been established in Cairo and will cooperate with Egypt’s Arab Organization for Industrialization.

At the Egypt Defense Expo (EDEX 2025) in Cairo, Bayraktar drones were displayed bearing the Egyptian flag.

Egypt and Türkiye also signed an agreement last August to jointly produce vertical takeoff and landing drones, while production of unmanned ground vehicles has begun through a partnership between the Turkish company Havelsan and Egypt’s Kader Factory.

Türkiye’s defense electronics firm Aselsan recently announced the opening of a regional office in Egypt, describing the move as a “new chapter” in expanding cooperation and providing direct, on-the-ground support to Egyptian partners.

Arab World

Lindsey Graham Cuts Meeting Short with Lebanon Army Chief over Hezbollah Designation

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (Reuters)
US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (Reuters)
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Lindsey Graham Cuts Meeting Short with Lebanon Army Chief over Hezbollah Designation

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (Reuters)
US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (Reuters)

Influential Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has said that he cut his meeting short with Lebanese army chief Gen. Rodolphe Haykal after the commander refused to consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

On Thursday, Graham said on X he "had a very brief meeting" in Washington after asking Haykal whether the Lebanese military considered Hezbollah to be "a terrorist organization."

Graham said that Haykal replied, "No, not in the context of Lebanon."

“They are clearly a terrorist organization. Hezbollah has American blood on its hands. Just ask the US Marines,” he said about the bombing of the US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut on October 23, 1983. The suicide attack killed 241 US service members.

Hezbollah has “been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by both Republican and Democrat administrations since 1997 – for good reason,” he said.

“As long as this attitude exists from the Lebanese Armed Forces, I don’t think we have a reliable partner in them. I am tired of the double speak in the Middle East. Too much is at stake,” Graham added.