IZMIR, Turkey: Turkish police detained 18 people in connection with Thursday’s gun and bomb attack which killed two people in the city of Izmir and Ankara has no doubt Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants were responsible, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Friday.
The car bombing and gunfire outside the main courthouse in Turkey’s third largest city, located on its western Aegean coast, highlighted the country’s deteriorating security after a gunman killed 39 people in a New Year’s Day mass shooting at an Istanbul nightclub.
(Reporting by Mehmet Emin Caliskan)
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Turkey detains 18 people over Izmir attack, sees PKK responsible
Turkey detains 18 people over Izmir attack, sees PKK responsible
Syrian officials in talks with Israel under US mediation: government source
- The resumption of talks with Israel reaffirms Syria’s strong commitment to restoring its non-negotiable national rights, a government source confirmed
LONDON: Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan Al-Shaibani and General Intelligence Directorate Head Hussein Al-Salameh led a delegation in talks with Israel that were mediated and coordinated by the US.
A source from the Syrian government confirmed on Monday that the resumption of talks with Israel reaffirms Syria’s strong commitment to restoring its non-negotiable national rights.
The discussions are primarily focused on reactivating the 1974 Disengagement Agreement to ensure Israeli forces withdraw to pre-Dec. 8, 2024 lines, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
This will be part of a security agreement that ensures Syrian sovereignty and prevents interference in its internal affairs, the source added.
Following the collapse of Bashar Assad’s regime and the change of power in Damascus in December, Israeli forces entered the demilitarized buffer zone established in 1974. They also conducted hundreds of air strikes, ground raids and set up checkpoints inside Syrian territory, near the town of Quneitra.
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