Ragip Soylu

2 weeks ago | middleeasteye.net | Sean Mathews |Ragip Soylu

Turkey and Israel have held talks over the establishment of a deconfliction line in Syria to avoid any misunderstandings and prevent potential clashes between their militaries, two western officials have told Middle East Eye. Last week, Israeli air forces carried out several air strikes in Syria, targeting military sites - including Hama Air Base and the Tiyas Airbase (also known as T4) - where Turkey had been planning to deploy soon.

2 weeks ago | middleeasteye.net | Sean Mathews |Ragip Soylu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been lobbying US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to block the sale of F-35 warplanes to Turkey, citing concerns over Ankara’s growing influence in Syria, three sources, including two senior western officials, told Middle East Eye. Netanyahu raised the F-35 issue during multiple calls with Rubio in March and April, the two western officials said. A third source familiar with the matter confirmed that Netanyahu had pressed Rubio on the arms sale.

1 month ago | middleeasteye.net | Ragip Soylu |Elis Gjevori

Turkey is approaching a breakthrough integration deal signed between Syria's new government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) with cautious optimism, Middle East Eye understands. According to the agreement signed by President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi Sahin, all civil and military institutions in northeastern Syria will be integrated into the administration of the Syrian state, including border crossings, the airport, and oil and gas fields.

1 month ago | middleeasteye.net | Ragip Soylu |Oscar Rickett

Turkey supplied several drones to Sudan’s army last year, and they have been used to achieve important advances against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in areas such as Khartoum and el-Obeid, multiple sources with knowledge of the matter told Middle East Eye. Since the civil war in Sudan began in April 2023, Ankara and other regional countries such as Egypt have backed army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against the paramilitary RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemeti.

2 months ago | middleeasteye.net | Ragip Soylu |Marco Carnelos |Jonathan Steele

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov plans to visit Turkey next week as part of his regional tour, sources familiar with the matter told Middle East Eye. Lavrov is expected to be in Ankara on 24-25 February, according to one of the sources. Earlier this week, Lavrov informed the Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, that there would be high-level talks with the Syrian government next week, which could indicate a visit by the Russian foreign minister to Syria as well.