ANKARA: President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Türkiye would not stop deepening ties with the East, including the BRICS group of nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), even as it continued to face West.
Türkiye, a NATO member, has in recent months voiced interest in joining the BRICS and SCO groups, both of which include China and Russia. This has stirred US and European fears that Türkiye may be pivoting away from its traditionally Western geopolitical orientation, despite repeated denials from Ankara.
Speaking at an event in Ankara, Erdogan said debates over an “axis shift” were unfounded, but that Türkiye had to adapt to new “centers of power” forming in the fields of economy, production, and technology, while keeping itself open to opportunities with every structure and actor.
“That is the approach that lies behind our country’s will to expand the basis of dialogue with all of them, from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to BRICS and ASEAN,” Erdogan said.
“Of course, our face is turned to the West, but this certainly does not mean that we will turn our backs on the East, that we will ignore the East, or not improve our ties with the East,” he added.
BRICS comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates. China and Russia, in particular, want to expand the group further as they seek to counter Western economic dominance.
The SCO is a security, political and economic club launched by Moscow, Beijing and Central Asian states in 2001 as a counterweight to Western alliances.
Erdogan says Turkiye will deepen ties with East while still facing West
https://arab.news/wzfeg
Erdogan says Turkiye will deepen ties with East while still facing West
- Erdogan said debates over an “axis shift” were unfounded, but that Türkiye had to adapt to new “centers of power” forming in the fields of economy, production, and technology
- “That is the approach that lies behind our country’s will to expand the basis of dialogue with all of them, from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to BRICS and ASEAN“
First responders enter devastated Aleppo neighborhood after days of deadly fighting
- The US-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Daesh group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria’s national army
ALEPPO, Syria: First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.
The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.
The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.
The US-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Daesh group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria’s national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”
The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.
Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid Al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.
The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.
On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.
Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.
“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”
Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.
Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.
“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.
