Author: Daily Sabah

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed anti-regime groups’ offensive in Syria and Palestine-Israel conflict at a meeting in the capital Ankara on Monday with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi. Fidan said at a joint news conference that Ankara has repeatedly issued warnings to all parties of the conflict to avoid escalation of tensions. He said problems unresolved for the past 13 years since the start of unrest in Syria led to the current situation. He added that it would be false to explain away the developments as a result of foreign intervention. He underlined that Türkiye always supported territorial integrity…

Turkish gendarmerie forces captured a total of 115 migrant smugglers in two-week-long countrywide operations, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced Monday. “49 of these suspects were arrested while 15 were released on probation and processing is underway for others,” Yerlikaya said in a statement on X. Raids also seized unlicensed weapons and 78 vehicles, according to the minister. The minister vowed to continue the fight against migrant smuggling and irregular migration for the peace and security of the country. Türkiye has caught over 1.1 million irregular migrants within its borders since 2020, according to official figures from the Interior Ministry. The…

The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has eliminated a red-category wanted PKK/YPG terrorists in a precision strike in northern Syria’s Tal Rifaat region, Turkish security sources said Monday. Yaşar Çekik, code-named “Yaşar Hakkari,” was the so-called head of PKK/YPG’s Shahba region, sources said. In addition to being wanted by Interpol, Çekik had been in the red category of Türkiye’s wanted terrorist list due to the terrorist attacks he carried out against Turkish security forces in Türkiye, Syria and Iraq. The terrorist, a top priority target for MIT, had been under surveillance for a long time. MIT discovered that Çekik, originally the…

The seventh round of Greek-Turkish discussions on Positive Agenda will kick off on Monday in Athens. Deputy Foreign Ministers Kostas Fragkogiannis and Mehmet Kemal Bozay will represent Greece and Türkiye, respectively, at the meeting. On Tuesday, Greek and Turkish diplomats will attend the third meeting of the Political Dialogue. The meetings aim to navigate two neighbors through a complex process of friendship after years of hostilities. They will be followed by a High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council meeting scheduled in January or February during Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ visit to Türkiye. Last month, delegations from the defense ministries of Türkiye…

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had phone calls with his counterparts and is set to meet visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as a conflict next door is brewing. Fidan last held talks with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein on Sunday, during which the two diplomats discussed developments in Syria. On Saturday, he had a phone call with Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Sani to discuss the situation in Syria and efforts to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza, according to diplomatic sources. Also, on Saturday, he discussed the issue with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati…

Turkish security sources said on Sunday that the Syrian opposition’s Syrian National Army blocked a bid by the terrorist group PKK/YPG to create a “terror corridor” amid a lightning offensive by Syrian anti-regime forces toward Aleppo. Türkiye has been a supporter of the Syrian opposition in its efforts to drive away terrorist groups PKK/YPG and Daesh in Syria’s north. Ankara’s cross-border offensives helped the Syrian National Army to take control of areas near the Turkish border, which were plagued with terror attacks. Earlier this week, Syrian anti-regime forces started an unprecedented advance toward Aleppo to take control of the province…

Maintaining calm in Idlib and the adjacent region, which is at the zero point of Türkiye’s border, is a priority for Ankara, Foreign Ministry spokesman Öncü Keçeli said Friday, as he said ongoing attacks in the region must come to an end. Keçeli’s remarks came as anti-regime forces and their allies reached the city center of Syria’s Aleppo. Noting that Türkiye fulfills the requirements of all agreements, Keçeli said Ankara issued warnings about the recent attacks on Idlib, which have reached a level that undermines the implementation of the Astana agreements. “We have emphasized that these attacks must come to…

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday gave a stark warning of a critical crossroads for humanity as Israel’s “genocidal” war rages on in the Gaza Strip. “Israel has massacred 50,000 Palestinians in the past year, leveled the Gaza Strip where not only humanitarian values but the reliability of the international system has been tested,” Erdoğan said at TRT World Forum in Istanbul. “We are witnessing events that will shape not just the next decade but the future of our grandchildren,” the president warned. He pointed to the conflict in Gaza as a key threat to Middle East stability, expressing hope…

A Turkish prosecutor is seeking up to 45 years in prison each for seven suspects charged with spying on people targeted by the Israeli agency Mossad. The public prosecutor in Istanbul filed a lawsuit on Thursday against seven suspects on charges of committing “sequential political or military espionage.” The suspects, Hamza Turhan Ayberk, Funda Kadayıfçıoğlu, Ercan Kama, Ömer Burak Gezer, Ismail Kaya, Mehmet Yetimova and Özkan Şahin, are facing 18 to 45-year sentences each for selling information to Mossad agents, the indictment said. Investigations have found Ayberk, a private detective, was first approached in 2019 by an Israeli intelligence operative…

Turkish authorities have captured over 1,600 irregular migrants and dozens of smugglers in nationwide “Shield-32” operations, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced Friday. Security forces captured a total of 1,626 migrants and 55 smugglers, including 13 foreign nationals, Yerlikaya said in a statement on X. The deportation process is underway for irregular migrants. Yerlikaya said 29,029 security personnel participated in the operations and inspections in 5,932 locations, from 4,840 abandoned buildings where migrants were hiding to some 8,213 entertainment venues, truck depots, 487 bus stations, ports and mass transportation hubs. Authorities checked the IDs of more than 402,330 people to detect…