Turkey says it has no preconditions for dialogue with Syria

Turkey does not have preconditions for dialogue with the Syrian government and talks should be goal-oriented, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said. (File/AFP)
Short Url
Updated 23 August 2022
Follow

Turkey says it has no preconditions for dialogue with Syria

  • Erdogan has warned that Turkey could launch another military incursion into northern Syria targeting Syria Kurdish fighters

ANKARA: Turkey does not have preconditions for dialogue with the Syrian government and talks should be goal-oriented, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday in a further softening of Ankara’s stance toward Damascus.
Turkey has backed rebels fighting to topple Syria’s President Bashar Assad, and cut diplomatic relations with Damascus early in the 11-year conflict.
But Russian intervention has helped Assad’s government drive the rebels back to a pocket of northwest Syria. Erdogan said after talks in Russia earlier this month that President Vladimir Putin had suggested Turkey cooperate with the Syrian government to tackle violence along their joint border.
Erdogan has warned that Turkey could launch another military incursion into northern Syria targeting Syria Kurdish fighters, to extend a ‘safe zone’ where Ankara says some of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees which it currently hosts could return.
“There cannot be a condition for dialogue but what are the aim of these contacts? The country needs to cleared of terrorists... People need to be able to return,” Cavusoglu said.
“No conditions for dialogue but what is the aim, the target? It needs to be goal-oriented,” he said.
Asked last week about potential talks with Damascus, Erdogan was quoted as saying diplomacy between states can never be fully severed. There is a “need to take further steps with Syria,” Erdogan said according to a transcript of his comments to Turkish media.


Crops wither in war-torn Sudan as power cuts cripple irrigation

Updated 04 July 2025
Follow

Crops wither in war-torn Sudan as power cuts cripple irrigation

  • Sudan’s agricultural sector is now facing another crushing blow from the nationwide power outages
  • State-run power plants have been repeatedly targeted, suffering severe damage and ultimately leaving farms without water

KHARTOUM: Hatem Abdelhamid stands amid his once-thriving date palms in northern Sudan, helpless as a prolonged war-driven power outage cripples irrigation, causing devastating crop losses and deepening the country’s food crisis.

“I’ve lost 70 to 75 percent of my crops this year,” he said, surveying the dying palms in Tanqasi, a village on the Nile in Sudan’s Northern State.

“I’m trying really hard to keep the rest of the crops alive,” he told AFP.

Sudan’s agricultural sector — already battered by a two-year conflict and economic crisis — is now facing another crushing blow from the nationwide power outages.

Since the war between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began in April 2023, state-run power plants have been repeatedly targeted, suffering severe damage and ultimately leaving farms without water.

Like most Sudanese farms, Abdelhamid’s depends on electric-powered irrigation — but the system has been down “for over two months” due to the blackouts.

Sudan had barely recovered from the devastating 1985 drought and famine when war erupted again in 2023, delivering a fresh blow to the country’s agriculture.

Agriculture remains the main source of food and income for 80 percent of the population, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Now in its third year, the conflict has plunged more than half the population into acute food insecurity, with famine already taking hold in at least five areas and millions more at risk across conflict-hit regions in the west, center and south.

The war has also devastated infrastructure, killed tens of thousands of people, and displaced 13 million.

A 2024 joint study by the United Nations Development Programme and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) found that nearly a third of rural households have lost irrigation and water access since the war began.

Without electricity to power his irrigation system, Abdelhamid — like thousands of farmers across the country — was forced to rely on diesel-powered pumps.

But with fuel scarce and prices now more than 20 times higher than before the war, even that option is out of reach for many.

“I used to spend 10,000 Sudanese pounds (about four euros according to the black market rate) for irrigation each time,” said another farmer, Abdelhalim Ahmed.

“Now it costs me 150,000 pounds (around 60 euros) because there is no electricity,” he told AFP.

Ahmed said he has lost three consecutive harvests — including crops like oranges, onions, tomatoes and dates.

With seeds, fertilizers and fuel now barely available, many farmers say they won’t be able to replant for the next cycle.

In April, the FAO warned that “below average rainfall” and ongoing instability were closing the window to prevent further deterioration.

A June study by IFPRI also projected Sudan’s overall economic output could shrink by as much as 42 percent if the war continues, with the agricultural sector contracting by more than a third.

“Our analysis shows massive income losses across all households and a sharp rise in poverty, especially in rural areas and among women,” said Khalid Siddig, a senior research fellow at IFPRI.


Syria unveils new national emblem as part of sweeping identity overhaul

Updated 04 July 2025
Follow

Syria unveils new national emblem as part of sweeping identity overhaul

  • Unveiled during a ceremony in Damascus on Thursday
  • New emblem reimagines iconic Syrian golden eagle with symbolic elements representing country’s history, geography and post-conflict aspirations

DAMASCUS: The Syrian Arab Republic has launched a new national visual identity featuring a redesigned golden eagle emblem, in what officials described as a break from the legacy of authoritarianism and a step toward a state defined by service, unity and popular legitimacy.

Unveiled during a ceremony in Damascus on Thursday, the new emblem reimagines the iconic Syrian golden eagle with symbolic elements representing the country’s history, geography and post-conflict aspirations, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported.

The redesign forms the centerpiece of a wider national branding effort aimed at redefining Syria’s image at home and abroad.

The eagle has long held significance in Syrian history, appearing in early Islamic military symbolism, notably in the 7th-century Battle of Thaniyat Al-Uqab, and later as part of the 1945 emblem of Syria.

The new design retains this historic continuity but shifts its meaning, and the combative shield clutched by previous iterations of the eagle has been removed.

Instead, the emblem now features the eagle topped by three stars representing the people symbolically placed above the state.

The redesigned wings are outstretched, balanced rather than aggressive, with seven feathers each to represent Syria’s 14 governorates.

The tail carries five feathers symbolizing the country’s major geographical regions: north, south, east, west, and central Syria — a nod to national unity and inclusivity, SANA reported.

Officials described the design as a “visual political covenant,” aimed at linking the unity of land with the unity of national decision-making.

“The people, whose ambitions embrace the stars of the sky, are now guarded by a state that protects and enables them,” said a statement accompanying the launch. “In return, their survival and participation ensure the renaissance of the state.”

The emblem is designed to signal historical continuity with the original post-independence design of 1945, while also representing the vision of a modern Syrian state born from the will of its people, SANA said.

Officials said the elevation of the stars above the eagle was intended to reflect the empowerment and liberation of the people, and the transition from a combative state to a more civic-minded one.

The symbolism also reinforces Syria’s territorial integrity, with all regions and governorates represented equally. The design, they said, reflects a new national pact, one that defines the relationship between the state and its citizens based on mutual responsibility and shared aspirations.

The new emblem is also intended as a symbolic end to Syria’s past as a security-driven state, replacing a legacy of repression with one of reconstruction and citizen empowerment.

President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, who has positioned his administration as one of reform and renewal, described the change as emblematic of “a government emanating from the people and serving them.”

The visual identity was developed entirely by Syrian artists and designers, including visual artist Khaled Al-Asali, in a deliberate effort to ground the new identity in local heritage and creativity.

Officials said that the process was intended not only as a rebranding exercise but as a reflection of Syria’s cultural and civilizational legacy — and its future potential.

Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani, speaking at the event, framed the launch as part of a broader transformation in Syrian governance and diplomacy.

“In every encounter, we carried a new face of Syria,” he said. “Our efforts brought Syria back to the international stage — not as a delayed hope, but as a present reality.”

He said the country was now rejecting the “deteriorated reality” inherited from decades of authoritarian rule, and described the new emblem as a symbol of Syria’s emergence as a state that “guards” and empowers its people, rather than controlling them.

Al-Shaibani concluded his remarks by calling the moment “a cultural death” for the former regime’s narrative.

“What we need today is a national spirit that reclaims the scattered pieces of our Syrian identity, that is the starting point for building the future.”


Syria ready to work with US to return to 1974 disengagement deal with Israel

Updated 04 July 2025
Follow

Syria ready to work with US to return to 1974 disengagement deal with Israel

  • Washington has been pushing diplomatic efforts toward a normalization deal between Syria and Israel
  • Barrack confirmed this week that Syria and Israel were engaging in “meaningful” US-brokered talks

DAMASCUS: Syria said on Friday it was willing to cooperate with the United States to reimplement the 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel, which created a UN-patrolled buffer zone separating the two countries’ forces.

In a statement following a phone call with his US counterpart Marco Rubio, Asaad Al-Shaibani expressed Syria’s “aspiration to cooperate with the United States to return to the 1974 disengagement agreement.”

Washington has been pushing diplomatic efforts toward a normalization deal between Syria and Israel, with envoy Thomas Barrack saying last week that peace between the two was now needed.

Speaking to The New York Times, Barrack confirmed this week that Syria and Israel were engaging in “meaningful” US-brokered talks to end their border conflict.

Following the toppling of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar Assad in December, Israel deployed its troops into the UN-patrolled zone separating Syrian and Israeli forces.

It has also launched hundreds of air strikes on military targets in Syria and carried out incursions deeper into the country’s south.

Syria and Israel have technically been in a state of war since 1948.

Israel conquered around two thirds of the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, before annexing it in 1981 in a move not recognized by much of the international community.

A year after the 1973 war, the two reached an agreement on a disengagement line.

As part of the deal, an 80 kilometer-long (50 mile) United Nations-patrolled buffer zone was created on the east of Israeli-occupied territory, separating it from the Syrian-controlled side.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday that his country had an “interest” in normalizing ties with Syria and neighboring Lebanon.

He however added that the Golan Heights “will remain part of the State of Israel” under any future peace agreement.

Syrian state media reported on Wednesday that “statements concerning signing a peace agreement with the Israeli occupation at this time are considered premature.”


Under pressure, Hezbollah weighs scaling back its arsenal

Updated 04 July 2025
Follow

Under pressure, Hezbollah weighs scaling back its arsenal

  • The group’s difficulties have been compounded by seismic shifts in the regional power balance
  • Another senior official, who is familiar with Hezbollah’s internal deliberations, said the group had been holding clandestine discussions on its next steps

BEIRUT: Hezbollah has begun a major strategic review in the wake of its devastating war with Israel, including considering scaling back its role as an armed movement without disarming completely, three sources familiar with the deliberations say.

The internal discussions, which aren’t yet finalized and haven’t previously been reported, reflect the formidable pressures the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group has faced since a truce was reached in late November.

Israeli forces continue to strike areas where the group holds sway, accusing Hezbollah of ceasefire violations, which it denies. It is also grappling with acute financial strains, US demands for its disarmament and diminished political clout since a new cabinet took office in February with US support.

The group’s difficulties have been compounded by seismic shifts in the regional power balance since Israel decimated its command, killed thousands of its fighters and destroyed much of its arsenal last year.

Hezbollah’s Syrian ally, Bashar Assad, was toppled in December, severing a key arms supply line from Iran. Tehran is now emerging from its own bruising war with Israel, raising doubts over how much aid it can offer, a regional security source and a senior Lebanese official told Reuters.

Another senior official, who is familiar with Hezbollah’s internal deliberations, said the group had been holding clandestine discussions on its next steps. Small committees have been meeting in person or remotely to discuss issues including its leadership structure, political role, social and development work, and weapons, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The official and two other sources familiar with the discussions indicated Hezbollah has concluded that the arsenal it had amassed to deter Israel from attacking Lebanon had become a liability.

Hezollah “had an excess of power,” the official said. “All that strength turned into a weak point.”

Under the leadership of Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed last year, Hezbollah grew into a regional military player with tens of thousands of fighters, rockets and drones poised to strike Israel. It also provided support to allies in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Israel came to regard Hezbollah as a significant threat. When the group opened fire in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas at the start of the Gaza war in 2023, Israel responded with airstrikes in Lebanon that escalated into a ground offensive.

Hezbollah has since relinquished a number of weapons depots in southern Lebanon to the Lebanese armed forces as stipulated in last year’s truce, though Israel says it has struck military infrastructure there still linked to the group.

Hezbollah is now considering turning over some weapons it has elsewhere in the country — notably missiles and drones seen as the biggest threat to Israel — on condition Israel withdraws from the south and halts its attacks, the sources said.

But the group won’t surrender its entire arsenal, the sources said. For example, it intends to keep lighter arms and anti-tank missiles, they said, describing them as a means to resist any future attacks.

Hezbollah’s media office did not respond to questions for this article.

Isreal’s military said it would continue operating along its northern border in accordance with the understandings between Israel and Lebanon, in order eliminate any threat and protect Israeli citizens. The US State Department declined to comment on private diplomatic conversations, referring questions to Lebanon’s government. Lebanon’s presidency did not respond to questions.

For Hezbollah to preserve any military capabilities would fall short of Israeli and US ambitions. Under the terms of the ceasefire brokered by the US and France, Lebanon’s armed forces were to confiscate “all unauthorized arms,” beginning in the area south of the Litani River — the zone closest to Israel.

Lebanon’s government also wants Hezbollah to surrender the rest of its weapons as it works to establish a state monopoly on arms. Failure to do so could stir tensions with the group’s Lebanese rivals, which accuse Hezbollah of leveraging its military might to impose its will in state affairs and repeatedly dragging Lebanon into conflicts.

All sides have said they remain committed to the ceasefire, even as they traded accusations of violations.

PART OF HEZBOLLAH’S ‘DNA’
Arms have been central to Hezbollah’s doctrine since it was founded by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to fight Israeli forces who invaded Lebanon in 1982, at the height of the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war. Tensions over the Shiite Muslim group’s arsenal sparked another, brief civil conflict in 2008.

The United States and Israel deem Hezbollah a terrorist group.

Nicholas Blanford, who wrote a history of Hezbollah, said that in order to reconstitute itself, the group would have to justify its retention of weapons in an increasingly hostile political landscape, while addressing damaging intelligence breaches and ensuring its long-term finances.

“They’ve faced challenges before, but not this number simultaneously,” said Blanford, a fellow with the Atlantic Council, a US think tank.

A European official familiar with intelligence assessments said there was a lot of brainstorming underway within Hezbollah about its future but no clear outcomes. The official described Hezbollah’s status as an armed group as part of its DNA, saying it would be difficult for it to become a purely political party.

Nearly a dozen sources familiar with Hezbollah’s thinking said the group wants to keep some arms, not only in case of future threats from Israel, but also because it is worried that Sunni Muslim jihadists in neighboring Syria might exploit lax security to attack eastern Lebanon, a Shiite-majority region.

Despite the catastrophic results of the latest war with Israel — tens of thousands of people were left homeless and swathes of the south and Beirut’s southern suburbs were destroyed — many of Hezbollah’s core supporters want it to remain armed.

Um Hussein, whose son died fighting for Hezbollah, cited the threat still posed by Israel and a history of conflict with Lebanese rivals as reasons to do so.

“Hezbollah is the backbone of the Shiites, even if it is weak now,” she said, asking to be identified by a traditional nickname because members of her family still belong to Hezbollah. “We were a weak, poor group. Nobody spoke up for us.”

Hezbollah’s immediate priority is tending to the needs of constituents who withstood the worst of the war, the sources familiar with its deliberations said.

In December, Secretary General Naim Qassem said Hezbollah had paid more than $50 million to affected families with more than $25 million still to hand out. But there are signs that its funds are running short.

One Beirut resident said he had paid for repairs to his apartment in the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs after it was damaged in the war only to see the entire block destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in June.

“Everyone is scattered and homeless. No one has promised to pay for our shelter,” said the man, who declined to be identified for fear his complaints might jeopardize his chances of receiving compensation.

He said he had received cheques from Hezbollah but was told by the group’s financial institution, Al-Qard Al-Hassan, that it did not have funds available to cash them. Reuters could not immediately reach the institution for comment.

Other indications of financial strain have included cutbacks to free medications offered by Hezbollah-run pharmacies, three people familiar with the operations said.

SQUEEZING HEZBOLLAH FINANCES
Hezbollah has put the onus on Lebanon’s government to secure reconstruction funding. But Foreign Minister Youssef Raji, a Hezbollah critic, has said there will be no aid from foreign donors until the state establishes a monopoly on arms.

A State Department spokesperson said in May that, while Washington was engaged in supporting sustainable reconstruction in Lebanon, “this cannot happen without Hezbollah laying down their arms.”

Israel has also been squeezing Hezbollah’s finances.

The Israeli military said on June 25 that it had killed an Iranian official who oversaw hundreds of millions of dollars in transfers annually to armed groups in the region, as well as a man in southern Lebanon who ran a currency exchange business that helped get some of these funds to Hezbollah.

Iran did not comment at the time, and its UN mission did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters.

Since February, Lebanon has barred commercial flights between Beirut and Tehran, after Israel’s military accused Hezbollah of using civilian aircraft to bring in money from Iran and threatened to take action to stop this.

Lebanese authorities have also tightened security at Beirut airport, where Hezbollah had free rein for years, making it harder for the group to smuggle in funds that way, according to an official and a security source familiar with airport operations.

Such moves have fueled anger among Hezbollah’s supporters toward the administration led by President Joseph Aoun and Nawaf Salam, who was made prime minister against Hezbollah’s wishes.

Alongside its Shiite ally, the Amal Movement, Hezbollah swept local elections in May, with many seats uncontested. The group will be seeking to preserve its dominance in legislative elections next year.

Nabil Boumonsef, deputy editor-in-chief of Lebanon’s Annahar newspaper, said next year’s poll was part of an “existential battle” for Hezbollah.

“It will use all the means it can, firstly to play for time so it doesn’t have to disarm, and secondly to make political and popular gains,” he said.


UN records 613 killings in Gaza near humanitarian convoys or aid distribution points run by US group

Updated 04 July 2025
Follow

UN records 613 killings in Gaza near humanitarian convoys or aid distribution points run by US group

  • Deaths near aid points run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and near humanitarian convoys

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: The UN human rights office said Friday it has recorded 613 killings in Gaza near humanitarian convoys and at aid distribution points run by an Israeli-backed American organization since it first began operations in late May.

Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the rights office was not able to attribute responsibility for the killings. But she said “it is clear that the Israeli military has shelled and shot at Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points” operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

She said it was not immediately clear how many of those killings had taken place at GHF sites, and how many occurred near convoys.

Speaking to reporters at a regular briefing, Shamdasani said the figures covered the period from May 27 through June 27, and “there have been further incidents” since then. She said she was basing the information on an internal situation report at the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Shamdasani said the figures, compiled through its standard vetting processes, were not likely to tell a complete picture, and “we will perhaps never be able to grasp the full scale of what’s happening here because of the lack of access” for UN teams to the areas.