DAMASCUS: Syria’s foreign ministry said Saturday that it would consider Turkish ground troops expected to temporarily monitor a safe zone deal in the country’s northwest as “illegitimate.”
The comments came a day after regime allies Russia and Iran agreed with opposition backer Turkey to jointly police a “de-escalation” zone in Syria’s Idlib province.
Damascus’s delegate to the talks, Bashar Al-Jaafari, had described them as successful but the foreign ministry in Damascus on Saturday criticized Turkey.
“These agreements on de-escalation zones do not grant any legitimacy to a Turkish presence on Syrian territory,” a source from the ministry told state news agency SANA.
“It is an illegitimate presence,” the source added, while recognizing that the accord “is temporary.”
The Idlib zone is the fourth such area to be agreed among Turkey, Russia, and Iran after two days of talks in Kazakhstan aimed at easing the six-year Syria conflict.
Under the deal, a total of four de-escalation zones would be set up, each for a six-month period which could be renewed.
Three zones are already in place — in Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, in central Homs, and in parts of southern Syria — and are being monitored by Russian military police.
Idlib province, which lies along Syria’s border with Turkey, was widely expected to be the most complex zone to establish.
Much of it is held by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), an alliance of fighters dominated by Al-Qaeda’s former Syrian affiliate.
In the Kazakh capital Astana on Friday, Turkey, Russia and Iran agreed “to allocate” their forces to patrol Idlib and parts of the neighboring Latakia, Hama and Aleppo regions.
Turkey has long backed rebels in Syria’s six-year conflict and intervened directly in August 2016 to fight the Daesh group as well as Kurdish militias it sees as “terrorists.”
Syria’s government regularly complains about Turkey’s intervention to the United Nations and says its military activities on Syrian soil constitute a violation of its sovereignty.
“The Astana deal is an international deal respected by Syria,” Waddah Abed Rabbo, editor-in-chief of the Al-Watan daily, which is close to the government, told AFP.
“But it doesn’t at all legitimize the presence of foreign powers — Turkish or otherwise — on Syrian soil without direct coordination with Syria’s government,” Abed Rabbo said.
More than 330,000 people have been killed and millions more displaced since Syria’s crisis erupted in March 2011.
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Syria says Turkish monitors in safe zone would be ‘illegitimate’
Syria says Turkish monitors in safe zone would be ‘illegitimate’
US resumes food aid to Somalia
- The United States on Thursday announced the resumption of food distribution in Somalia, weeks after the destruction of a US-funded World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse at Mogadishu’s port
NAIROBI: The United States on Thursday announced the resumption of food distribution in Somalia, weeks after the destruction of a US-funded World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse at Mogadishu’s port.
In early January, Washington suspended aid to Somalia over reports of theft and government interference, saying Somali officials had “illegally seized 76 metric tons of donor-funded food aid meant for vulnerable Somalis.”
US officials then warned any future aid would depend on the Somali government taking accountability, a stance Mogadishu countered by saying the warehouse demolition was part of the port’s “expansion and repurposing works.”
On Wednesday, however, the Somali government said “all WFP commodities affected by port expansion have been returned.”
In a statement Somalia said it “takes full responsibility” and has “provided the World Food Program with a larger and more suitable warehouse within the Mogadishu port area.”
The US State Department said in a post on X that: “We will resume WFP food distribution while continuing to review our broader assistance posture in Somalia.”
“The Trump Administration maintains a firm zero tolerance policy for waste, theft, or diversion of US resources,” it said.
US president Donald Trump has slashed aid over the past year globally.
Somalis in the United States have also become a particular target for the administration in recent weeks, targeted in immigration raids.
They have also been accused of large-scale public benefit fraud in Minnesota, which has the largest Somali community in the country with around 80,000 members.
In early January, Washington suspended aid to Somalia over reports of theft and government interference, saying Somali officials had “illegally seized 76 metric tons of donor-funded food aid meant for vulnerable Somalis.”
US officials then warned any future aid would depend on the Somali government taking accountability, a stance Mogadishu countered by saying the warehouse demolition was part of the port’s “expansion and repurposing works.”
On Wednesday, however, the Somali government said “all WFP commodities affected by port expansion have been returned.”
In a statement Somalia said it “takes full responsibility” and has “provided the World Food Program with a larger and more suitable warehouse within the Mogadishu port area.”
The US State Department said in a post on X that: “We will resume WFP food distribution while continuing to review our broader assistance posture in Somalia.”
“The Trump Administration maintains a firm zero tolerance policy for waste, theft, or diversion of US resources,” it said.
US president Donald Trump has slashed aid over the past year globally.
Somalis in the United States have also become a particular target for the administration in recent weeks, targeted in immigration raids.
They have also been accused of large-scale public benefit fraud in Minnesota, which has the largest Somali community in the country with around 80,000 members.
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