Politics
Ankara stresses YPG integration in Syria as key for Türkiye security
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan hosted his Syrian counterpart, Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, in Ankara on Thursday as the two neighboring countries continue to deepen relations following the collapse of the Baathist regime in 2024. Their talks eventually turned to the YPG, the Syrian wing of the PKK terrorist group, which has killed thousands of people across Türkiye since the 1980s.
At a joint news conference with al-Shaibani, Fidan underlined that improvements in the security of Damascus and Aleppo were “felt as far as Gaziantep, Mersin and Istanbul,” adding that “destabilizing developments anywhere in Syria also pose a threat to Türkiye.”
“In this context, it is paramount for Türkiye that the ongoing integration process in Syria should not be interrupted. It is essential for all armed groups and so-called entities to be integrated into a centralized and legitimate national structure, both for the unity of Syria and the stability of our region,” he said.
During the Syrian civil war, the YPG, then openly backed by the U.S., launched attacks targeting Turkish border towns. In response, Türkiye launched cross-border military operations and supported the Syrian opposition during the Assad era to drive the YPG out of areas it occupied in northern Syria.
Syria has integrated about 9,000 former YPG members into its national security institutions as part of a broader effort to unify the country’s armed forces, while appointing a former senior YPG official as deputy defense minister, according to officials familiar with the process.
The integration marks one of the most significant steps in implementing an agreement between Damascus and the YPG aimed at dissolving the terrorist group. Roughly 5,000 former YPG members have joined the Syrian Defense Ministry, while another 4,000 have been incorporated into the Interior Ministry, officials said. Non-Syrian foreign members previously affiliated with the YPG have been removed from the country as part of the restructuring process.
Syrian authorities describe the process as a gradual, reciprocal approach under which security, administrative and political measures advance simultaneously to build confidence between the two sides.
Military integration has accelerated in recent months, while negotiations continue over local governance, political representation, constitutional reforms and language rights for Kurdish communities.
The integration process is also indirectly linked to Türkiye’s own initiative to end the PKK threat. This week, lawmakers are discussing a draft bill that would allow for the integration of PKK members through deferred sentences as part of the terror-free Türkiye initiative, which gained momentum in 2025 when the PKK announced that it would dissolve itself. The YPG initially rejected joining the initiative but later accepted Damascus’ demands for integration.
For his part, the Syrian minister said that a Syria free of terrorism and militias and united as one nation was “the strongest guarantee” for protecting the country’s shared border with Türkiye.
Israeli threat
Fidan also described Israeli attacks in Syria as “the greatest threat to the country’s stability,” accusing Tel Aviv of escalating violence across the region.
“Israel’s attacks targeting Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are among the greatest threats to the country’s stability,” Fidan said at the news conference.
He said Damascus had contributed to preserving regional stability throughout the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and stressed that protecting Syria’s security and stability was a shared responsibility of all countries in the region. He added that the international community should respond more forcefully to Israel’s occupation policy and exert the necessary pressure to ensure compliance with the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and respect for Syria’s sovereignty.
Al-Shaibani echoed those remarks, stating that Israel’s attacks targeted Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity while also threatening regional stability.
“We reiterate our call for a return to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and for Israel to withdraw to the lines that existed before Dec. 8, 2024. We call on the international community to uphold international law and contribute to preserving the stability of Syria and the region,” he said.
He added that efforts to restore stability in northern Syria were continuing and that diplomatic initiatives aimed at halting Israel’s attacks in southern Syria were also ongoing.
Regarding the U.S.-Israel-Iran war, Syria’s top diplomat stressed that the fighting in the region should come to an end as soon as possible. He noted that the regional tensions were also affecting Syria and said Damascus condemned Iran’s attacks against the Gulf countries.
A woman accused of helping her brother, one of the most wanted suspects in the July 15, 2016 coup attempt by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), was apprehended on Friday in Muğla, the southwestern Turkish province where her brother is being questioned following his capture last week.
The woman, identified as A.A.K., allegedly supplied food and cash and found hideouts for Burkay Karatepe, an army captain who sought to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, while he was on the run. Authorities said she was detained in a hotel room in Muğla’s Menteşe district. Police were also searching her home in the central province of Eskişehir.
Karatepe, who has cooperated with authorities since his capture, admitted that his family had helped him remain in hiding after he fled Marmaris in Muğla, where the assassination attempt on Erdoğan, who was staying at a hotel there on July 15, 2016, was foiled. Meanwhile, Karatepe was escorted by police and a prosecutor as he retraced the route of his escape in Marmaris. Police are also searching for the weapons and ammunition he reportedly hid in the Marmaris countryside after fleeing. Other members of the assassination team accompanying Karatepe were captured in the countryside within days of the coup attempt.
He told investigators that he first traveled to İzmir after the coup attempt failed. He said he initially took shelter at the home of a couple originally from his hometown in Afyonkarahisar. He later contacted his father before returning to his hometown, where he hid in a house owned by his grandfather. According to his statement, his immediate family gathered at the house, and everyone was aware of his involvement in the coup attempt. Karatepe then met his father, who helped him hide in the countryside near his hometown. He later moved to central Afyon, used a fake ID under the name “Salih,” and kept a low profile while working odd jobs, including at construction sites and as a junk collector.
New Party (YP) Chair Özgür Özel is in hot water but appears dismissive of the mounting accusations against him.
Özel, who was ousted from the chairpersonship of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) last May, claimed that payments made informally to the CHP during his tenure were “not bribery.”
“They said they paid money to cover the party’s expenses. We paid each other and pooled our funds. How is that bribery?” Özel told journalists on Thursday in response to statements by corruption suspects who admitted handing over large sums of cash to Özel and his associates in the CHP.
The allegations are detailed in a parliamentary referral that prosecutors submitted to Parliament, seeking the removal of Özel’s parliamentary immunity. The referral accuses Özel of “serial bribe-taking,” based on an investigation that includes witness statements, phone records, and evidence of suspicious financial transactions ranging from TL 50 million ($1.05 million) to 1 million euros ($1.15 million).
Prosecutors allege that the transactions took place before the 2024 municipal elections and during the process leading to the CHP’s 2023 party congress that brought Özel to power. It was the same congress that ultimately cost Özel his position after a court ruled that vote-buying allegations involving Özel’s camp were sufficient to invalidate the election and reinstated his rival and the party’s former chair, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, to the post in May.
Accounts relating to the conversion of a luxury VIP minibus for Özel’s use, the purchase of a car, cash payments, and the provision of watches and handbags are also included in the case file against the YP chairperson.
Prosecutors allege that Özel used his influence to obtain benefits during candidate selection and election processes, either directly or through lawmaker Veli Ağbaba, a close associate who joined the YP when it was founded last month. Ağbaba also faces similar allegations that could lead to the lifting of his parliamentary immunity.
One of the allegations against Özel is that he obtained financial benefits from former Antalya mayor Muhittin Böcek and his son, Mustafa Gökhan Böcek, before the 2024 municipal elections in exchange for securing Böcek’s nomination. He is also accused of receiving benefits from Özkan Yalım, the former mayor of the western province of Uşak. Both Yalım and Böcek were arrested in separate investigations into alleged corruption in the municipalities they governed.
The referral includes detailed testimony from Mustafa Gökhan Böcek. According to his statement, during the process of securing his father’s nomination, Veli Ağbaba called him and said he was acting on Özel’s instructions. Böcek stated that TL 30 million was initially requested, followed by 1 million euros. He said that after his father told him to “do what is necessary,” he collected the money from businesspeople in Antalya and traveled to Ankara with his wife on Jan. 9, 2024. He stated that he delivered the money at CHP headquarters to Emre Caner, whom Ağbaba had instructed him to meet, and later identified him.
Mustafa Gökhan Böcek also stated that before a campaign launch event, Ağbaba told him that “TL 7 million or TL 8 million in cash would be good.” He said that during the launch event in Antalya, he handed over $200,000 to a person sent by Ağbaba. Muhittin Böcek likewise stated that he instructed his son to “do what was necessary” regarding the financial demands of the party headquarters.
According to witness statements obtained during an investigation by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, Onur Nasuh, Gökhan Böcek’s chauffeur, said that TL 50 million was sent to the CHP’s election headquarters in Istanbul to support Böcek’s candidacy. Witness Sezgin Köysüren stated that he had heard $15 million was given to Özel’s bodyguard, while another witness, Hüseyin Erkan Yılmaz, also testified that large sums of money had been paid.
Yalım, who cooperated with authorities in exchange for a reduced sentence, also told investigators that he paid 170,000 euros plus VAT for the conversion of a Mercedes V300 vehicle on Özel’s instructions. He further stated that he partially financed the purchase of a car registered in Özel’s father’s name, sent luxury handbags to Özel’s wife and daughter in 2022, bought another handbag at Özel’s request, and gave him a wristwatch as a gift in 2019.
Yalım further stated that during the period leading up to the 2023 party congress, he left TL 200,000 in a plastic bag by the garden wall of Özel’s home in Manisa on Özel’s instructions. He also claimed that on Oct. 14, 2023, he handed TL 1 million to a man named Demirkan near CHP headquarters, again acting on the instructions of the party leadership.
The 12-article draft Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration will be on the agenda of the Justice Committee of the Turkish Parliament on Friday. The bill is a crucial step in the terror-free Türkiye initiative, which has advanced primarily through the terrorist group PKK’s declaration of dissolution and its initial steps toward disarmament. If passed, the law will defer the sentences of PKK members not involved in acts of terrorism and facilitate the return of the group’s supporters from abroad.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) secured the signatures of 360 lawmakers this week and unveiled the contents of the bill on Wednesday when it submitted it to the Office of the Parliament Speaker. The temporary law excludes terrorists involved in killings as well as senior members of the terrorist group, including its founder, Abdullah Öcalan. PKK members will be allowed to surrender and benefit from provisions reducing or deferring their sentences once Turkish authorities confirm that the terrorist group has fully laid down its arms.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday welcomed the submission of the draft law to Parliament, describing it as a product of broad political consensus aimed at eliminating the terrorist threat, reinforcing national unity, and fostering lasting peace in Türkiye and the wider region. In a statement, Erdoğan said the proposal was the result of comprehensive consultations and reflected the nation’s determination to resolve one of its longstanding security challenges.
“The Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration, prepared following extensive consultations, has been submitted to our esteemed Parliament with broad consensus reflecting our nation’s determination to achieve a solution,” Erdoğan said on social media. The president said the legislation seeks to permanently free Türkiye from the threat of terrorism while reinforcing national solidarity and fostering a climate of peace both at home and across the region.
“I hope this important step, which aims to permanently rid Türkiye of the terrorist threat, strengthen our national unity and solidarity, and reinforce an atmosphere of peace in our country and region, will bring positive outcomes,” he said.
Erdoğan also thanked those who contributed to drafting the legislation and advancing the process, singling out Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chair Devlet Bahçeli, the AK Party’s partner in the People’s Alliance, for his role. He also expressed appreciation to parliamentary groups and lawmakers who supported the legislative effort, voicing hope that the process would continue successfully in the coming period. The president met Bahçeli on Thursday afternoon, likely to discuss the bill.
The Ministry of National Defense, which oversaw the military’s decades-long campaign against the PKK, said on Thursday that the initiative would significantly contribute to peace, security and stability both in Türkiye and the wider region. In a statement, the ministry noted that Türkiye had achieved significant success in counterterrorism thanks to the efforts of the security forces and the support of the nation.
“The largest share in this belongs to our revered martyrs, our veterans and their families, who made the ultimate sacrifice for the homeland,” the ministry said. It also underlined that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) would remain committed to their duties and responsibilities throughout the process and would continue “taking measures to crown the success in counterterrorism with lasting peace and security.”
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said on Thursday that the draft law was “absolutely not providing a special status for anyone and does not cover other terrorist groups.” Gürlek said in a social media post that the law would not apply to those who ordered terrorist attacks or those who carried out attacks that “took the lives of members of our security forces.” He also underlined that implementation of the law would be contingent upon the complete dissolution of the PKK and that the terrorist group would be required to destroy all of its weapons and munitions “in an irreversible way.”
Özgür Özel, chair of the main opposition New Party (YP), who supported the initiative while serving as chair of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), reiterated his support for the process, although his party abstained from signing the draft bill. On Thursday, Özel met with the families of victims of terrorism in Ankara and renewed his support for ending terrorism. “We advocate that all guns fall silent and that all weapons in the hands of the terrorist group be removed,” he said, while pledging that his party would contribute to the Justice Committee’s work on the bill. Özel, however, claimed that the government was trying to portray the initiative as a solution to the concerns of the families of martyrs and counterterrorism veterans.
On Wednesday, a parliamentary committee approved a separate draft bill to improve the benefits of the families of martyrs and veterans by increasing their monthly compensation.
Ayşegül Doğan, spokesperson for the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), which has intricate links to the PKK, said at a news conference on Thursday that the draft bill marked the first step of a new era “in terms of a transition from armed conflict to legal and democratic politics.” The DEM Party acted as an intermediary between the imprisoned Öcalan and Parliament, also relaying his messages regarding the initiative to the public. The party views the PKK as an armed group fighting for what it considers a just cause, in contrast to the state’s designation of the group as a terrorist organization. Doğan said the process should advance “under the joint responsibility of society and all political parties.”
Türkiye’s National Security Council (MGK) on Thursday called for the international community to take a firm and uncompromising stance against Israel over continued cease-fire violations in Gaza, escalating settler violence in the occupied Palestinian territories and provocative attacks on holy sites, including Al-Aqsa Mosque.
In a statement issued after the meeting, the council said the international community must respond decisively to Israel’s continued cease-fire violations despite recent progress under the Gaza Peace Plan.
The council also condemned escalating settler violence in the occupied Palestinian territories and continued provocative attacks targeting holy sites, particularly Al-Aqsa Mosque, stressing that a clear and uncompromising international response is needed.
The meeting also reviewed progress toward Türkiye’s “Terror-Free Türkiye” and “Terror-Free Region” goals, with members discussing the next phase of efforts aimed at strengthening national security, regional stability and long-term prosperity.
The council received briefings on ongoing counterterrorism operations against the PKK/KCK-PYD/YPG, the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and Daesh terrorist groups, saying operations at home and abroad continue with determination.
Marking the 10th anniversary of the July 15, 2016, defeated coup attempt, the council assessed the latest stage of the fight against FETÖ and reaffirmed that efforts to dismantle the group’s remaining network would continue.
The MGK also highlighted Türkiye’s successful hosting of the NATO Summit, describing it as a critical milestone for the alliance while reaffirming Ankara’s commitment to sharing its advanced defense capabilities with allies.
On regional issues, the council warned that renewed clashes between Iran and the United States pose risks to neighboring countries and global trade routes, urging all sides to refrain from the use of force and return to negotiations aimed at securing lasting peace.
Regarding the Russia-Ukraine war, the council said expanding the conflict into neighboring regions, particularly the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, would not resolve the strategic deadlock and called on both sides to reduce tensions and take concrete steps toward peace.
The statement also underscored the importance of deepening multidimensional cooperation with Syria and Iraq, saying stronger regional coordination remains essential for security, stability and prosperity.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will travel to Saudi Arabia on Friday for a one-day working visit, where he is expected to hold talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Presidential Communications Director Burhanettin Duran said Thursday.
During the visit, Erdoğan is also expected to meet with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
A source close to the Saudi government told AFP that the three will hold a summit on Friday in Jeddah.
No further details were immediately released on the agenda of the meetings.
On Monday, Erdoğan told the Saudi Crown Prince that Israel must fully comply with the roadmap for the second phase of the Gaza Peace Plan for it to succeed, as the two leaders discussed bilateral ties and regional developments in a phone call.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was received by Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Wednesday during his visit to Amman, where he attended a ministerial meeting on Jerusalem focused on ongoing Israeli violations at Al-Aqsa Mosque and in Palestine.
Fidan met with the Jordanian monarch in the capital Amman, the Foreign Ministry said.
No further information on the meeting was as yet provided.
During the meeting, Fidan said nearly 20 Islamic countries discussed “collective measures” against Israel’s recent violations at Al-Aqsa Mosque, stressing that regional crises should not distract international attention from developments in the occupied Palestinian territories.
On the sidelines of the broader meeting, Fidan also attended the fifth ministerial gathering of what he called the “Group of Four” – Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan.
Fidan said the participants focused exclusively on recent Israeli actions targeting Al-Aqsa Mosque, as he reiterated Türkiye’s determined stance regarding Palestine. He noted that regional crises, including the Gulf conflict, have not diverted Ankara’s focus from Gaza, Jerusalem and the broader Palestinian cause.
-
Economy3 days agoSyria to restore Iraq oil pipeline damaged during US invasion
-
Politics2 days agoShip attacks prompt Türkiye to renew call for Black Sea safety
-
Economy2 days ago$3B bet: Mubadala-backed firm works on jet fuel from tropical fruit
-
Economy2 days agoTürkiye eyes new corridor to carry oil, gas from Iraq, Gulf to Europe
-
Economy1 day agoTürkiye renews call for inclusion in EU’s new trade, industrial policies
-
Politics2 days agoTürkiye appoints first female general in Air Force history
-
Refugees2 days agoTurkey’s parliament considers peace initiative to end PKK conflict
-
Economy2 days agoTürkiye’s defense giant Aselsan logs 25% rise in revenues in H1