ANKARA: The conflict in Syria will top the agenda when the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives in Jordan on Monday for an official visit at the invitation of King Abdallah.
Jordan and Turkey host millions of Syrian refugees, and take part in regional and international efforts to end the crisis. Jordan supports Turkey’s initiatives to co-broker a cease-fire in Syria through negotiations in the Kazakh capital, Astana. The two countries are also involved in the US-led anti-Daesh coalition in Syria and Iraq.
The two leaders “will discuss the situation in the region, especially in Syria, Iraq and Palestine, during his visit,” Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said. “This visit is important in terms of foreign policy perspective.”
Erdogan will continue with trips to Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and the US in September. The flurry of Turkish diplomatic activity suggests closer cooperation between Turkey, Iran and Russia in Syria, said Gonul Tol, director of the Center for Turkish Studies at the Middle East Institute in Washington.
“Jordan has played an important role in the Syrian conflict and lately has been a party to the de-escalation agreement in southern Syria,” she said. “Jordan and Russia have also worked closely in Syria, sharing intelligence and carrying out military aircraft missions.”
Tol said Erdogan’s visit to Jordan was part of that Syria diplomacy, and that Turkey and Jordan might seek ways to tackle challenges in the post-Daesh Iraq.
“Jordan also plays an important role in Iraq. Now that the defeat of Daesh in Iraq is seen as imminent, Iraq depends on Jordan to ensure Iraq’s primary gateway to the world remains open,” she said.
Erdogan’s visit also coincides with the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries, which date to 1947.
The president will be followed to Amman by US Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who will travel to Jordan and then to Turkey later this month, the Pentagon said on Friday.
Sharing borders with Syria and Iraq, the Syrian conflict and the advance of militants in the region push Turkey and Jordan to further cooperate because of their internal security calculations.
Turkey and Jordan recently reacted against Israeli restrictions on Palestinians over Al-Aqsa Mosque, and called for the de-escalation of the situation. King Abdallah and Erdogan spoke by telephone on June 24 specifically about the latest developments at Al-Aqsa, and agreed to cooperate on the resolution of the conflict.
Nimrod Goren, head of Mitvim — the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies — said that because Jordan had a formal special status in Jerusalem, it often played a major role in calming the situation between Israel and the Palestinians.
“Jordan did so last month, but this time Turkey also tried to build on its recent efforts to gain influence in East Jerusalem,” Goren said. “While Jordan convened the foreign ministers of the Arab League, Turkey initiated a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.”
Now, with the crisis over, the two countries may be trying to draw lessons. “King Abdallah already visited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and may now be trying to agree on future rules of engagement with Erdogan,” he said. “The Turkish president, on the other hand, is in the midst of regional meetings, with parties who are often at odds with each other — ranging from the Gulf, to Iran, and now Jordan.”
Goren said Turkey was trying to navigate its way in the changing Middle East, which now had several crises, each of which created a different coalition. “Many in Israel are worried by the recent rapprochement between Turkey and Iran, and attribute this to an emerging anti-Israeli axis. Erdogan’s visit to Jordan — a moderate regional actor with peaceful relations with Israel — should lessen such concerns,” he said.
Developing trade and increasing investments are also on the agenda during Erdogan’s visit. Turkey and Jordan enjoy increasing bilateral trade, which has reached $1 billion a year.
Jordan visit: Erdogan in new push for Syria peace
https://arab.news/p7m85
Jordan visit: Erdogan in new push for Syria peace
Israeli airstrikes pound areas north of Litani River as tensions with Hezbollah escalate
- Raids day after Tel Aviv signaled possible resumption of strikes, accusing Lebanon of ‘not moving fast enough’
- US President Donald Trump says Hezbollah ‘must be completely disarmed’
BEIRUT: Israeli airstrikes on Friday hit several areas north of the Litani River, a day after Israel signaled it could resume its attacks on Hezbollah after claiming the Lebanese army was “not moving fast enough” and that the Iran-backed group was “rebuilding its military system.”
The raids struck multiple locations across the Iqlim Al-Tuffah region, the heights of Jabal Al-Rihane, and the towns of Mlikh and Aaramta in the Jezzine District, as well as the area around Qal’at Meiss between Ansar and Al-Zrariyah. Strikes on the Tabna area, on the outskirts of Al-Baisariyah in the Sidon–Zahrani district, cut the road linking nearby villages.
Airstrikes also hit the valley between Kafroue and Aazze in the Nabatieh District, the outskirts of Ain Al-Tineh, and Jabal Machghara in Western Bekaa, while Israeli warplanes flew at low altitude over the south, reaching the airspace of Baalbek, northern Bekaa, and the surrounding villages.
Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee claimed that Israel’s forces had targeted a “training compound” of the Radwan Force of Hezbollah allegedly used to conduct training for its members “in order to plan and carry out terrorist plots against army forces and the citizens of the state of Israel. The terrorist operatives were undergoing shooting training and qualification in the use of various combat means.”
Adraee added that the Israeli army struck “buildings and military facilities (used) for storing weapons” belonging to Hezbollah, and suggested that attacks were likely to continue.
Political writer Ali Al-Amin told Arab News: “The areas targeted by the Israeli airstrikes on Friday had previously been targeted repeatedly, but these areas are valleys and closed spaces belonging to the party, extending from the south to the Western Bekaa, and everyone knows that they contain bases and armament centers.”
Al-Amin added that Hezbollah “is currently living (in) an unprecedented moment of weakness. Iran, on the other hand, is facing a renewed predicament, confronting internal protests at a moment of external pullback, which means that whether Hezbollah hands over its weapons or does not hand them over, it is in a state of exposure at a time of a major imbalance.”
The end of 2025 marked the deadline Lebanon committed to for the state’s monopoly of arms south of the Litani River. On Jan. 8, its first session of the year, the Cabinet is expected to hear the Lebanese army’s report announcing the completion of its mission, preceding the second phase which covers the southern area up to the Awali River. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the country remained committed to meeting the deadline.
An official political source confirmed to Arab News: “The army commander will present his report and the military institution will continue its mission. There will be no postponement.”
Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem said in a statement: “Hezbollah’s disarmament is a US-Israeli project targeting Lebanon and its sovereignty and independence, even if it is marketed under the banner of exclusive state control of arms.”
He added that the demand for control of weapons amid “continued Israeli attacks means that you are not working in Lebanon’s interest, but in Israel’s interest.”
On Thursday, following his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump said that Hezbollah “has been behaving badly” and “must be completely disarmed,” adding that “the Lebanese government is at a little bit of a disadvantage” with the group.
Asked whether Israel should strike Hezbollah in Lebanon due to the group’s refusal to disarm, Trump replied: “We’re going to see about that.”
Sirens sounded in Baram in Western Galilee in Israel on Friday morning, and a missile was launched toward a target in Upper Galilee, exploding in the north near the Lebanese towns of Maroun Al-Ras and Yaroun. Israeli Army Radio later reported that it had been a false alarm and the “suspect was a flock of birds.”
