Politics
Camps, bases emptied in Syria amid new deal with US-backed terrorists
The notorious al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria that once housed tens of thousands of women and children with alleged links to Daesh has been emptied after a government operation last month freed the area from the control of the YPG terrorist group, officials said Sunday.
Fadi al-Qassem, the Syrian Foreign Ministry representative for the al-Hol camp administration, said the final convoy left the camp Sunday morning.
Hundreds of residents have been transferred to the Akhtarin camp in Aleppo province in recent weeks and others have been repatriated to Iraq.
Officials have said the decision to empty the al-Hol camp was made because of its remote location in the desert, far from services and close to areas where the authorities do not have complete control of the territory.
The U.N. refugee agency said it assisted in the return of 191 Iraqi citizens from Syria’s al-Hol camp to Iraq Thursday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor, also reported that an unspecified number of residents “left the camp individually, without waiting for the organized convoys.”
After the defeat of Daesh in 2019, around 73,000 people were living at al-Hol, most of them Syrian and Iraqi citizens, but also including thousands from other countries. The camp’s residents are mostly women, including wives or widows of Daesh members, and their children.
Since then, the number has declined, with some countries repatriating their citizens, leaving about 24,000 as of last month.
According to the latest camp data obtained by Reuters, dated Jan. 19 – a day before the government took control of the camp – its population was 6,639 families comprising 23,407 people, mostly Syrians and Iraqis, as well as 6,280 foreigners of more than 40 nationalities.
UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, said it had observed “a significant decrease in the number of residents in al-Hol camp in recent weeks,” adding in a statement to Reuters that there were no confirmed figures on the remaining population.
“Over the weekend, the camp administration advised UNHCR not to enter the camp due to the unrest and anxiety in the camp,” it added.
The camp’s residents were not technically prisoners and most had not been accused of crimes, but they had been held in de facto detention at the heavily guarded facility for years.
Last month, Syrian government forces captured the al-Hol camp in a weekslong offensive against the YPG terrorist group, which had been running the camp near the border with Iraq for a decade. A cease-fire deal has since ended the fighting.
During and after the fighting, many families are believed to have escaped from the camp.
A Syrian government security source said most people in the camp fled that day during a five-hour period when it was unguarded and that some had left with men who came to take their relatives to unknown destinations.
The security source and a source from a non-governmental organization working there said a section of the camp that housed its most dangerous residents, known as the annex, was empty.
The source added that the escapees had spread throughout Syria and that security authorities, working in cooperation with international partners, had established a unit to “follow up on the matter and pursue those who are wanted.”
The fate of the similar but smaller Roj camp in northeastern Syria, which is still under YPG control, remains unclear. Most of the residents of that camp are foreigners, whose countries have largely refused to take them back.
Syrian authorities turned back a group of 34 Australian women and children on Feb. 16 after they left the Roj camp, headed toward Damascus to board a flight back to Australia. Australian authorities later said they would not repatriate the families.
A Syrian government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly said Sunday that the issue stemmed from “the lack of prior coordination with the Syrian government” by the YPG and families of the would-be returnees before attempting to send them to Damascus.
The official added that “whether they will be allowed (to return) will depend on the Australian government.”
On the other hand, Iraqi deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Fuad Hussein, and the U.S. envoy Thomas Barrack met Monday to discuss coordination and joint cooperation on combating terrorism.
Barrack expressed its appreciation for the important step taken by the Iraqi government in transferring Daesh members from detention centers abroad to Iraqi prisons, as part of strengthening Iraq’s sovereignty and fulfilling its legal responsibilities.
The minister affirmed that Iraq continues to communicate with several countries to transfer their citizens involved in terrorism cases to their countries of origin.
He also expressed appreciation for the Turkish government’s agreement to receive Turkish citizens among these individuals.
The agreement between the YPG and the Syrian Government was also discussed, with both sides affirming their support for this agreement and the need to adhere to its implementation, given its direct impact on strengthening security and stability in Syria.
Türkiye considers the Daesh terrorist group one of the biggest threats to the country’s security and peace, as the group faces nationwide raids, and was one of the first countries to declare it a terrorist group in 2013.
The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) thwarted the terrorist group’s efforts for recruitment, obtaining funds and logistics support after its latest operation in the aftermath of a church shooting in Istanbul in January 2024.
Terrorists from Daesh and other groups, such as the PKK and its Syrian wing, the YPG, rely on a network of members and supporters in Türkiye.
US withdraws key base
The United States began withdrawing Monday from a major military base in northeastern Syria that remains under the control of YPG, according to a YPG official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
According to an AFP team, a convoy of dozens of trucks carrying armored vehicles and prefabricated structures was seen traveling along a road linking the Qasrak base in Hassakeh province to the Iraqi border.
The withdrawal follows the departure of American forces from two other bases in recent weeks, al-Tanf in southeastern Syria and Shadadi in the northeast, signaling a continued drawdown of the U.S. military footprint in the country.
Moreover, some U.S. media reports recently noted that the United States plans to withdraw all of its roughly 1,000 troops from Syria within the next two months.
Washington will end its presence in the country after the Syrian government extended its control over the country and the U.S.-backed YPG pledged to integrate into the state, according to reports.
Television network CBS also reported on the plan, citing unnamed U.S. officials.
The U.S. has drawn close to Syria’s new authorities since the fall of Bashar Assad in late 2024 and has transferred thousands of Daesh fighters from prisons to secure facilities in Iraq.
Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry on Monday issued a joint statement with 20 countries and two regional organizations, warning that Israel’s latest decisions in the occupied West Bank further erode Palestinian rights and tighten Tel Aviv’s unlawful control over land internationally recognized as Palestinian territory.
The foreign ministers – representing Türkiye, Brazil, Denmark, Egypt, France, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Jordan, Luxembourg, Norway, Palestine, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden – said Israel’s reclassification of large areas as “state land” and its further expansion of illegal settlements reflect a pattern of decisions that undermine international law and worsen conditions on the ground.
The statement, also backed by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the League of Arab States, said the moves advance “unacceptable de facto annexation,” complicating diplomatic efforts and eroding the viability of a future Palestinian state.
Ministers highlighted the approval and tendering of the E1 project as a particularly destabilizing step, arguing that it fragments Palestinian territory and further limits the prospects for a negotiated solution. They warned that ongoing policies risk locking in permanent changes to the legal and administrative status of the territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem.
Citing mounting settler violence, the signatories urged Israel to halt attacks on Palestinians and ensure accountability, saying the escalation jeopardizes security and stability across the West Bank.
The ministers also called on Israel to immediately release tax revenues owed to the Palestinian Authority under the Paris Protocol, noting that the withheld funds have severely strained essential services in both Gaza and the West Bank.
With Ramadan underway, the statement underscored the need to preserve the historical and legal status quo at Jerusalem’s holy sites and recognized the role of Hashemite custodianship. They warned that repeated violations risk igniting wider tensions.
The joint declaration reaffirmed support for a two-state solution based on the 1967 lines, saying only a sovereign and independent Palestinian state can deliver lasting peace and regional integration.
Turkish security forces have detained a suspect accused of serving as a senior operative within the naval network of the Gülenist Terrorist Group (FETÖ), authorities said Tuesday.
Bedrettin Günebakmaz, who was wanted on charges of membership in an armed terrorist organization, was arrested in an operation in Istanbul’s Üsküdar district carried out by counterterrorism police in coordination with the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and intelligence units, according to officials.
The Interior Ministry had listed Günebakmaz in the “yellow category” of its most-wanted terrorism suspects. Authorities allege he held a managerial role in the organization’s covert structure within the Naval Forces Command.
Investigators said technical and physical surveillance indicated that the suspect used the encrypted messaging application ByLock, had links to the now-defunct Bank Asya, and was connected to the group’s overseas network. Statements in the investigation file also identified him as a chemistry teacher who had contacts with military personnel in the northwestern city of Sakarya.
Police said the suspect had taken extensive measures to conceal his identity, including renting property under a false name, registering utilities in the names of others and keeping multiple hats, caps and glasses to avoid recognition by security cameras.
The suspect was taken into custody and transferred to police headquarters for further processing.
The terrorist group orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, in Türkiye, in which 252 people were killed and 2,734 were wounded. Ankara also accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.
Türkiye has targeted its active members and sleeper cells nonstop, and its influence has been much reduced since 2016. However, the group maintains a vast network, including infiltrators suspected to be still operating within Turkish institutions.
FETÖ backers in army ranks and civil institutions have disguised their loyalty, as operations and investigations have indicated since the 2016 coup attempt. FETÖ is also implicated in a string of cases related to its alleged plots to imprison its critics, money laundering, fraud and forgery.
The terrorist group faces operations almost daily as investigators still try to unravel their massive network of infiltrators everywhere.
Internal tensions within Türkiye’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) escalated after a group of dissident figures held a closed-door meeting in Ankara, sharply criticizing the party leadership and signaling plans to expand their efforts.
According to a report in Turkish newspaper Sabah, citing party sources, 42 CHP members, including 13 sitting lawmakers and 13 former members of Parliament, gathered Sunday at a private location for a six-hour meeting that focused on the party’s direction and internal management. The meeting was attended by senior figures, including Istanbul Provincial Chair Gürsel Tekin.
Participants delivered strong criticism of the party headquarters, focusing on what sources described as three main areas of concern.
First, attendees voiced objections to what they see as the leadership’s blanket defense of individuals implicated in corruption investigations, calling instead for a process of “purification” within the party.
Second, the group expressed discomfort over what they described as the continued marginalization and exclusion of dissenting voices since 2023.
Third, participants criticized what they characterized as policies detached from the party’s institutional traditions and the country’s national agenda, along with what sources described as harsh or inappropriate messaging from party leader Özgür Özel.
Sources familiar with the meeting said the gathering was organized at the invitation of former Istanbul lawmaker Ali Özcan and was conducted independently of former party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. However, they said Kılıçdaroğlu would be given a detailed briefing on the discussions and conclusions.
The dissident bloc is expected to expand its activities. According to participants, more than 20 additional CHP lawmakers may attend the next meeting, on top of the 13 current MPs who were present on Sunday. Sources added that seven lawmakers had planned to attend but were unable to do so due to last-minute personal reasons.
The time and location of the next gathering have not yet been determined, but organizers indicated that such meetings would continue regularly.
The internal maneuvering comes ahead of a major party event scheduled for March 2 at CHP headquarters under the theme “Together with the Nation, at the Service of the Nation.” The program is expected to feature policy announcements and the introduction of a 350-person team presented as candidates to govern the country.
Party officials from across Türkiye, including provincial leaders and lawmakers, have been invited to attend. According to sources, Özel is expected to deliver an extended speech at the event in a format resembling that of a presidential candidate. A large group photo centered around the party leader is also planned.
Imamoğlu factor
The gathering also comes against the backdrop of continued political activity by Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, who, according to sources within the party, maintains communication with members of a “shadow cabinet” structure through his legal representatives.
Members of the dissident camp argue that the leadership’s current strategy is to continue presenting Imamoğlu as a potential candidate and maintain a narrative of political pressure around him. They claim that once it becomes clear he cannot run, the party leadership may promote the idea that the party chair should become the natural presidential candidate.
The developments highlight growing factionalism within the CHP as it navigates internal power struggles and prepares for upcoming electoral challenges.
As Azerbaijan prepares to mark the anniversary of the Feb. 26, 1992 genocide in Khojaly, country’s Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) Sabina Aliyeva urge international organizations and the world community to “take decisive measures for the legal recognition of this crime of genocide, one of the bloody massacres perpetrated in the 20th century, and to bring all persons responsible for this crime to justice.”
On the heels of the Soviet Union’s dissolution, Armenian forces illegally occupied the town of Khojaly in Karabakh on Feb. 26, 1992, after battering it with heavy artillery and tanks, assisted by an infantry regiment. The town was the site of a two-hour Armenian massacre that killed 613 Azerbaijani civilians – including 106 women, 63 children and 70 elderly people – and seriously injured 487 others. Some 150 of the 1,275 Azerbaijanis that the Armenians captured during what has now been called the Khojaly Massacre remain missing, while eight families were completely wiped out.
The Karabakh region had been the site of mass killings and burials since the First Karabakh War in the early 1990s, during which the Armenian military occupied Karabakh – a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan – and seven adjacent regions, including Khojaly. In the fall of 2020, in 44 days of fighting, Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages and settlements in Karabakh from some 30 years of Armenian occupation.
“This serious criminal act, encompassing elements of the crime of genocide, constitutes one of the tragic pages in the history of humankind and a gross violation of fundamental human rights and freedoms. These premeditated acts were intended to kill ethnic Azerbaijanis on the basis of their national identity, and forcibly expel them from their ancestral lands, and instill fear and panic among the population,” Aliyeva said in a written statement.
“As a result of the Khojaly Genocide, the norms of international human rights and international humanitarian law were violated, including the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and the Geneva Conventions for the Protection of War Victims. Consequently, the rights to life, personal security, property, freedom from torture, and other fundamental human rights were seriously violated,” Aliyeva added.
Türkiye’s secularization and laicity are under the spotlight, thanks to a declaration signed by 168 people, including prominent authors and actresses, who all claim that both are under threat and Türkiye is being “Talibanized.” The declaration coincided with the Ministry of National Education’s decision to introduce celebratory events for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at schools.
Yusuf Tekin, the minister behind the campaign that involves schools decorating classrooms with images associated with Ramadan, denounced the declaration and branded those behind it as a “reactionary minority.” Tekin borrowed from the jargon of the secular elite who defended the 1997 coup against “reactionary forces” or observing Muslims who were barred from attending schools wearing the headscarf or working in the public sector simply because of attendance in daily prayers.
Tekin told broadcaster A Haber that the declaration contained nothing serious, “in an academic sense.” “(Criticism of Ramadan events) has no scientific basis and is based on prejudice. Our events only aim to endear children to school,” he said.
The minister said that laicity should be interpreted as a political regime securing freedom of religion. “What we see is outdated pressure on the faithful. The real reactionary forces are those who claim that the Ramadan events, where children joyfully attend in this Muslim-majority country, are a provocation of the reactionary minority,” he said. “Those identifying themselves as intellectuals have no right to insult this nation,” he said.
Since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the abolition of the Caliphate, Türkiye has prided itself as a secular state, separating religion from state affairs, but the concept has been muddled and exploited by anti-Muslim circles to disenfranchise Muslims from the political scene. Invariably, the incumbent Justice and Development Party (AK Party) governments, which rose to the occasion to represent disenfranchised Muslims along with other disadvantaged communities, are being accused of pushing an “Islamic agenda.”
The Muslim identity of the country becomes more prominent every Ramadan and days before, as evidenced in the skyrocketing popularity of a modern-day Islamic hymn or ilahi praising Hajj, a pillar of Islam in recent days. Tekin’s opposition to the “secular” declaration and his promotion of Ramadan events found support among several educational nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), which issued statements to that extent.
Devlet Bahçeli, leader of government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), was among those reacting to the declaration. Bahçeli told the parliamentary group meeting of his party on Tuesday that he fully supported Tekin’s actions and branded defenders of the declaration as “Haluks of today,” borrowing a term from late intellectual Cemil Meriç, who used it to describe intellectuals disconnected from their own culture and sought to integrate themselves with the Western mindset. Bahçeli said Ramadan has been a symbol of solidarity and charity, the peak of national and spiritual values. “It should be a duty to teach its meaning to future generations,” he said, adding that every Ramadan also had its share of those “disturbed by it.” “In this era of spiritual decay and moral erosion, we have to think about the children. Shouldn’t we instill them with the good features of the Muslim Turkish nation?”
He said the Education Ministry’s campaign for Ramadan was appropriate. Reminding that instructions by Minister Tekin to schools involved planning of social events to raise awareness among students for gaining a sense of sharing, charity and solidarity, Bahçeli said it was perfectly right. “Think about it, where is the Talibanization here?” he asked. Bahçeli said “rotten intellectuals” had no problem with religions except Islam and “sold their soul to the devil.” “They should come forward and openly voice their enmity. I wonder what part of the events empowering our cultural heritage contradicted with laicity. They have no problem with children going to church every Sunday and they expect us to remain silent when they question Ramadan,” he said. “These so-called academics and experts behind the declaration do not add up to one proper human being. They say they won’t give up in the face of darkness. You are the embodiment of darkness,” Bahçeli denounced the declaration.
As the likelihood of a U.S. strike on Iran grows, Israeli political leaders are increasingly turning their attention to another regional power: Türkiye, signaling a possible search for a new strategic rival even as tensions with Tehran remain high.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who is widely expected to run in this year’s elections, last week publicly labeled Türkiye a threat to Israel, accusing Ankara of aligning itself with a hostile regional bloc.
Speaking at a conference, Bennett warned that Israel must not “turn a blind eye” to Türkiye and described it as part of a regional axis “similar to the Iranian one,” adding that Israel must act simultaneously against threats from both Tehran and Ankara.
Bennett’s remarks reflect a broader shift in tone among Israeli politicians in recent months, according to a report on Doha-based Al Jazeera.
While Iran has long been Israel’s principal adversary, Türkiye has emerged as a frequent target of criticism as Ankara sharply condemns Israel’s actions toward Palestinians and its genocidal war in Gaza, while also strengthening ties with regional powers such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reinforced this narrative Sunday, announcing plans to build a new “hexagon” of alliances aimed at countering what he called an “emerging … Sunni axis.”
Speaking as he confirmed an upcoming visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Netanyahu said the proposed bloc would include countries such as Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, both of which have strained relations with Türkiye.
Analysts speaking to Al Jazeera said the timing of the rhetoric toward Türkiye, even as Israel presses for confrontation with Iran, is not accidental.
Former Israeli Ambassador Alon Pinkas said Israeli leaders often rely on a constant sense of external threat to mobilize public support, arguing that the specific adversary matters less than the perception of danger.
Israel has been in a near-constant state of conflict since the Hamas incursion of Oct. 7, 2023, followed by its genocidal war in Gaza, military operations in Lebanon, Yemen and Syria, and renewed moves toward annexation in the occupied West Bank. Against that backdrop, analysts say, talk of new threats and alliances fits a broader push for Israeli regional dominance.
Despite shared rhetoric, Israel-Türkiye relations differ sharply from Israel’s hostility toward Iran. The two countries have decades of pragmatic ties and Türkiye is a NATO member.
Relations deteriorated significantly after Israel’s 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla that killed 10 Turkish activists and have worsened further under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an outspoken critic of Israel.
Still, analysts argue that equating Ankara with Tehran overstates the case. Pinkas noted that Türkiye has never denied Israel’s right to exist or threatened its destruction, calling comparisons between the two countries “ridiculous.”
Others warn that the rhetoric carries risks. Chatham House analyst Yossi Mekelberg told Al Jazeera that while much of the talk may be deflection from Iran, escalating language toward Türkiye could eventually harden into real confrontation.
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