ANKARA: Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Ankara on Monday at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Hours before the visit, Putin ordered the start of the withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria, saying Moscow and Damascus had achieved their aim of defeating Daesh within two years.
The Turkish presidential spokesperson said Erdogan and Putin discussed the latest regional and global developments, including US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the situation in Syria.
The two leaders had a phone conversation the day after the US announcement on Jerusalem. Putin reportedly told Erdogan that he will follow the issue at the UN Security Council, where Russia has a permanent seat.
On Tuesday, an emergency summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will be convened in Istanbul under Turkey’s chairmanship, during which participant countries will draw up a roadmap for the Jerusalem crisis.
This is the third face-to-face meeting between Erdogan and Putin in less than a month. Last week, footage of a senior Russian commander posing with a spokesman of the Syrian-Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in front of the group’s flag enraged Turkey.
Emre Ersen, a Syria analyst at Marmara University in Istanbul, said the fact that this is the seventh Putin-Erdogan meeting in a year shows the significance of the strategic dialogue between Turkey and Russia regarding the Middle East.
“Turkey is trying to lead diplomatic efforts in the region against the US decision on Jerusalem,” Ersen told Arab News.
“The timing of Putin’s visit is interesting in this regard, as it takes place only a day before the OIC meeting.”
Moscow views the Jerusalem crisis as yet another opportunity to increase its influence in the Middle East, Ersen added.
“Putin’s approach regarding Jerusalem is to launch a new diplomatic process based on recognition of the eastern part of the city as the capital of Palestine,” Ersen said.
Given the very good political and economic relations between Russia and Israel, he said he does not expect as harsh a tone from Moscow as from Ankara when it comes to criticizing the Israeli government about Jerusalem.
Russia’s Syrian National Dialogue Congress initiative is another point of contention between Moscow and Ankara, and is likely to dominate the agenda of Putin’s visit.
Turkey strongly rejects the participation of the YPG and its political wing, the Democratic Union Party (PYD).
“Ankara hopes to extend its military cooperation with Russia and Iran to the (Syria) region of Afrin, which is currently under the control of the PYD/YPG,” Ersen said.
While the major reason for Turkey’s rapprochement with Russia and Iran in Syria was its disappointment with US military support for the PYD/YPG, all the parties are now preparing for a post-Daesh Syria, he added.
The US seems to have started reconsidering its military support for the PYD/YPG, as shown by recent statements from senior American officials, he said.
“Both Washington and Moscow are aware that they need to appease Turkey regarding the PYD/YPG in order to pull Ankara to their side in Syria,” Ersen said.
Putin’s visit coincides with those of Curtis Scaparrotti, supreme allied commander Europe of NATO allied command operations, and Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of US Central Command.
“Since the next stage of the conflict in Syria will deal with terrorism in Idlib province and the Kurdish entity, where Ankara’s interests are directly at play, an increased number of high-level meetings between Russian and Turkish officials makes sense,” Timur Akhmetov, a researcher at the Russian International Affairs Council, told Arab News.
“The high degree of uncertainty and unpredictability of the conflict compels Russia to synchronize its actions with regional stakeholders.”
Following the withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria, Moscow will most probably ask Ankara to continue its efforts to separate moderate Syrian rebel factions from jihadist groups, Akhmetov said.
Putin, Erdogan meet for third time in less than a month
Putin, Erdogan meet for third time in less than a month
Israel’s attorney general tells Netanyahu to reexamine extremist security minister’s role
- National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir criticized for interfering in police matters
JERUSALEM, Nov 14 : Israel’s Attorney General told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reevaluate the tenure of his far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, citing his apparent interference in police matters, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Thursday.
The news channel published a copy of a letter written by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara in which she described instances of “illegitimate interventions” in which Ben-Gvir, who is tasked with setting general policy, gave operational instructions that threaten the police’s apolitical status.
“The concern is that the government’s silence will be interpreted as support for the minister’s behavior,” the letter said.
Officials at the Justice Ministry could not be reached for comment and there was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office.
Ben-Gvir, who heads a small ultra-nationalist party in Netanyahu’s coalition, wrote on social media after the letter was published: “The attempted coup by (the Attorney General) has begun. The only dismissal that needs to happen is that of the Attorney General.”
Israeli forces demolish Palestinian Al-Bustan community center in Jerusalem
- Al-Bustan Association functioned as a primary community center in which Silwan’s youth and families ran cultural and social activities
LONDON: Israeli forces demolished the office of the Palestinian Al-Bustan Association in occupied East Jerusalem’s neighborhood of Silwan, whose residents are under threat of Israeli eviction orders.
The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Culture condemned on Thursday the demolition of Al-Bustan by Israeli bulldozers and a military police force.
The ministry said that “(Israeli) occupation’s arrogant practices against cultural and community institutions in Palestine, and specifically in Jerusalem, are targeting the Palestinian identity, in an attempt to obliterate it.”
Founded in 2004, the Al-Bustan Association functioned as a primary community center in which Silwan’s youth and families ran cultural and social activities alongside hosting meetings for diplomatic delegations and Western journalists who came to learn about controversial Israeli policies in the area.
Al-Bustan said in a statement that it served 1,500 people in Silwan, most of them children, who enrolled in educational, cultural and artistic workshops. In addition to the Al-Bustan office, Israeli forces also demolished a home in the neighborhood belonging to the Al-Qadi family.
Located less than a mile from Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem’s southern ancient wall, Silwan has a population of 65,000 Palestinians, some of them under threat of Israeli eviction orders.
In past years, Israeli authorities have been carrying out archaeological digging under Palestinian homes in Silwan, resulting in damage to these buildings, in search of the three-millennial “City of David.”
Israeli strike kills 12 after hitting civil defense center in Lebanon’s Baalbek, governor tells Reuters
- Eight others, including five women, were also killed and 27 wounded in another Israeli attack
CAIRO: An Israeli strike killed 12 people after it hit a civil defense center in Lebanon’s city of Baalbek on Thursday, the regional governor told Reuters adding that rescue operations were ongoing.
Eight others, including five women, were also killed and 27 wounded in another Israeli attack on the Lebanese city, health ministry reported on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Lebanese civil defense official Samir Chakia said: “The Civil Defense Center in Baalbek has been targeted, five Civil Defense rescuers were killed.”
Bachir Khodr the regional governor said more than 20 rescuers had been at the facility at the time of the strike.
‘A symbol of resilience’ — workers in Iraq complete reconstruction of famous Mosul minaret
- Workers complete reconstruction of 12th-century minaret of Al-Nuri Mosque
- Tower and mosque were blown by Daesh extremists in 2017
High above the narrow streets and low-rise buildings of Mosul’s old city, beaming workers hoist an Iraqi flag into the sky atop one of the nation’s most famous symbols of resilience.
Perched precariously on scaffolding in high-vis jackets and hard hats, the workers celebrate a milestone in Iraq’s recovery from the traumatic destruction and bloodshed that once engulfed the city.
On Wednesday, the workers placed the last brick that marked the completed reconstruction of the 12th-century minaret of Al-Nuri Mosque. The landmark was destroyed by Daesh in June 2017 shortly before Iraqi forces drove the extremist group from the city.
Known as Al-Hadba, or “the hunchback,” the 45-meter-tall minaret, which famously leant to one side, dominated the Mosul skyline for centuries. The tower has been painstakingly rebuilt as part of a UNESCO project, matching the traditional stone and brick masonry and incorporating the famous lean.
“Today UNESCO celebrates a landmark achievement,” the UN cultural agency’s Iraq office said. “The completion of the shaft of the Al-Hadba Minaret marks a new milestone in the revival of the city, with and for the people of Mosul.
“UNESCO is grateful for the incredible teamwork that made this vision a reality. Together, we’ve created a powerful symbol of resilience, a true testament to international cooperation. Thank you to everyone involved in this journey.”
The restoration of the mosque is part of UNESCO’s Revive the Spirit of Mosul project, which includes the rebuilding of two churches and other historic sites. The UAE donated $50 million to the project and UNESCO said that the overall Al-Nuri Mosque complex restoration will be finished by the end of the year.
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay celebrated the completion of the minaret by posting “We did it!” on social media site X.
She thanked donors, national and local authorities in Iraq and the experts and professionals, “many of whom are Moslawis,” who worked to rebuild the minaret.
“Can’t wait to return to Mosul to celebrate the full completion of our work,” she said.
The Al-Nuri mosque was built in the second half of the 12th century by the Seljuk ruler Nur Al-Din.
After Daesh seized control of large parts of Iraq in 2014, the group’s leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, declared the establishment of its so-called caliphate from inside the mosque.
Three years later, the extremists detonated explosives to destroy the mosque and minaret as Iraqi forces battled to expel them from the city. Thousands of civilians were killed in the fighting and much of Mosul was left in ruins.
US hands Lebanon draft truce proposal -two political sources
- The US has sought to broker a ceasefire that would end hostilities between its ally Israel and Hezbollah
BEIRUT: The US ambassador to Lebanon submitted a draft truce proposal to Lebanon’s speaker of parliament Nabih Berri on Thursday to halt fighting between armed group Hezbollah and Israel, two political sources told Reuters, without revealing details.
The US has sought to broker a ceasefire that would end hostilities between its ally Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, but efforts have yet to yield a result. Israel launched a stepped-up air and ground campaign in late September after cross-border clashes in parallel with the Gaza war.
