U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan discussed on Friday the need for continued efforts to counter any resurgence of Islamic State in Syria following the fall of Bashar-al Assad.
"Our countries worked very hard and gave a lot over many years to ensure the elimination of the territorial caliphate of ISIS, to ensure that threat doesn't rear its head again, and it's imperative that we keep at those efforts," Blinken said alongside Fidan after they met in Ankara.
Talks also focused on a critical aspect of establishing stability in Syria - clashes in the north of the country between U.S.-backed Kurdish forces and Turkish-backed rebels.
Fidan said after the meeting that Turkey's "priority in Syria is to ensure stability...as soon as possible, to prevent terrorism from gaining ground and to prevent Islamic State and the PKK from dominating there".
"We discussed in detail what we can do about these, what our common concerns are, and what our common solutions should be," he said.
NATO allies Washington and Ankara supported Syrian rebels during the 13-year civil war, but their interests clashed when it came to one of the rebel factions - the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
The SDF is the main ally in a U.S. coalition against the Islamic State militants. It is spearheaded by the People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara sees as an extension of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants that it outlaws and who have fought the Turkish state for 40 years.
Blinken, who met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan late on Thursday, also said that there was broad agreement on what Turkey and the U.S. would like to see in Syria after Assad's fall.
Earlier this week, Turkish-backed forces seized the northern city of Manbij from the U.S.-backed SDF, which then headed east of the Euphrates River. A Syrian opposition source told Reuters the U.S. and Turkey had reached an agreement on the withdrawal.
Neither Blinken nor Fidan made any reference to any agreement between Turkey-backed Syrian forces and the SDF.
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz remains under its control, rejecting U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim of “total control” over t...
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday for talks focused on Gaza, Pale...
Georgia’s Prime Minister says the EU’s inclusion of a major Black Sea cable project on a key infrastructure list is fresh evidence of t...
Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has increased the strategic importance of Bab al-Mandab, raising fears that instability in both waterways could trigger a wider global energy and trade crisis.
Flights at Catania airport in Sicily will remain suspended until early Friday as ash from Mount Etna continues to disrupt air travel, following hundreds of cancellations and diversions over the past week.
Iran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to agree a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source who said there had been no progress in talks to revive the interim deal agreed in June and define a timeframe to implement it.
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz remains under its control, rejecting U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim of “total control” over the strategic waterway and insisting it will not reopen until Washington fulfils its commitments under an interim deal.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 12th of August, covering the latest developments.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday for talks focused on Gaza, Palestinian statehood and regional security.
Taiwan staged military defence drills on Wednesday as China concluded joint naval exercises with Indonesia in waters east of the island.
Washington’s counter-narcotics push is expanding as Colombia’s new conservative government backs deeper security cooperation.
Meta said it had removed more than 750,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts suspected of belonging to Australians under 16, as the country’s internet regulator weighs enforcement action over its teen social media ban.
Russia has accused Ukraine of threatening global grain supplies after recent strikes on Black Sea agricultural infrastructure, while Moscow carried out a new overnight attack on Ukraine’s major Danube port of Izmail.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment