"Mr Erdogan declared Turkey's priority is to maintain peace on its borders" as well as "the unity, stability and territorial integrity of Syria," where last week a Islamist-led rebel coalition went on the offensive, breaking a years-long stalemate in Syria's civil war.
Erdogan's office said he had "urged the Syrian regime to engage in a real political process to avoid the situation deteriorating."
Turkey's head of state also warned "he had taken and would take measures to prevent the terrorist organisation PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) and its extensions from taking advantage of developments" in northern Syria, home to numerous Kurdish fighters.
Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other rebel groups have seized a large swathe of the northern city of Aleppo in recent days, and are now advancing towards the central city of Hama.
Iraq, which has assured Damascus of its support, sent armoured vehicles Monday to bolster security on its 600-kilometre (375 miles) long border with Syria.
The resumption of hostilities in Syria's civil war has intensified diplomatic manoeuvres in the region.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi notably held talks in Ankara on Monday with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, a day after visiting Damascus, where he met President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.
Tehran was a staunch ally of Assad during the civil war that broke out in 2011.
Iran says ready to study any Syrian request for troops
Tehran (AFP) Dec 3, 2024 -
Iran will consider any request from its Syrian ally for troops to help tackle a sweeping rebel offensive in the north, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday.
"If the Syrian government asks us to send forces to Syria, we will study their request," Araghchi said in an excerpt from an interview published on his official Telegram channel.
Iran and Syria have been close allies for decades and Iran has long provided military advisors to the Syrian armed forces.
On Monday, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran's "military advisors were present in Syria, and they are still present" and would remain in the country "in accordance with the wishes" of its government.
The Iranian government has been portraying the rebel assault as a US-Israeli plot to destabilise the Middle East.
On Tuesday, the chief of the Iranian armed forces, General Mohammad Bagheri, called the rebel advance "dangerous for the region" according to state television.
Bagheri held separate talks on Syria with his Iraqi and Syrian counterparts, as well as the Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov.
They all said they would "take the necessary measures to support the Syrian army", according to Iranian state television.
Iraqi armed group urges government to deploy troops to Syria
Baghdad (AFP) Dec 3, 2024 -
Iraq's powerful Iran-aligned Kataeb Hezbollah armed group has called on Baghdad to send troops to Syria to support the Damascus government against a rebel offensive.
Kataeb Hezbollah, or Hezbollah Brigades, made the appeal in a statement shared on pro-Iranian Telegram channels late Monday. Excerpts were also posted on its official website.
The rebel offensive, led by Islamists, has seized the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, stirring concern in political and security circles in neighbouring Iraq.
A spokesman for Kataeb Hezbollah, part of the Iran-backed "axis of resistance", said the group had not yet decided to deploy its own fighters but urged Baghdad to act.
"We believe the Iraqi government should take the initiative to send regular military forces in coordination with the Syrian government, as these groups pose a threat to Iraq's national security and the region," the spokesman said.
Kataeb Hezbollah has previously fought in Syria alongside forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
In Iraq, it is part of the Hashed al-Shaabi, a coalition of former paramilitary forces now integrated into the regular armed forces.
This coalition, under the Iraqi prime minister's command, denies involvement outside Iraq's borders.
Iraq remains scarred by the rise of the Islamic State group in 2014, which saw the jihadists capture nearly a third of the country before being defeated in 2017.
On Monday, Iraq said it had sent armoured vehicles to bolster security along its 600-kilometre (370-mile) border with Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, reported the deployment of about 200 pro-Iranian Iraqi fighters in Syria's Aleppo region to back government forces.
Israel says killed Hezbollah liaison with Syria army in Damascus strike
Jerusalem (AFP) Dec 3, 2024 -
The Israeli military said it killed the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah's liaison with the Syrian army in an air strike on Damascus on Tuesday as a fragile six-day-old ceasefire stutters.
"The (Israeli Air Force) conducted an intelligence-based strike in Damascus targeting Hezbollah's representative to the Syrian military, Salman Nemer Jomaa," the military said, adding he played a key role in weapons deliveries between Syria and the militant group.
"As part of his duties, Jomaa was responsible for coordination between Hezbollah agents and the Syrian army, including to support the smuggling of weapons between Syria and Hezbollah," it added.
Syrian state news agency SANA had reported an Israeli strike on a car on the road to Damascus's international airport, while a war monitor reported one person killed.
"A car exploded after it was targeted in an Israeli aggression on the road to Damascus International Airport," SANA reported, citing a police source.
According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the car was targeted by an Israeli drone.
"A man who was inside was killed and another was injured," said the Observatory, without providing details of their identities.
The strike occurred near a military airfield, added the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria.
Since Syria's war broke out in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria, mainly targeting the army and Iran-backed groups including Lebanon's Hezbollah.
Israel rarely comments on such strikes but has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran to expand its presence in the country.
The strike on Damascus came amid mutual accusations between Israel and Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire that came into effect in Lebanon on November 27.
US strike hits weapons in eastern Syria: Pentagon
Washington (AFP) Dec 3, 2024 -
US forces destroyed truck-mounted rocket launchers, a tank and mortars on Tuesday in eastern Syria, the Pentagon said.
The weapons "presented a clear and imminent threat to US and coalition forces," Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder told journalists, referring to the international coalition against the Islamic State armed group.
"We're still assessing who was operating these weapons, but do know that there are Iranian-backed militia groups in the area that have conducted attacks" in the past, he said.
The US military has around 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in Iraq as part of the coalition, which was established in 2014 to combat the Islamic State group.
Since war broke out in the Gaza Strip after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, Iran-backed groups have repeatedly targeted US forces in Iraq and Syria in response to Washington's support for Israel.
The United States has on multiple occasions responded to such attacks with strikes on those groups.
Syria has seen renewed violence in the last week after four years of relative calm, with Islamist-led rebels seizing towns and swathes of territory from the government across the country's north.
Ryder emphasized that the US military action on Tuesday was "not linked to any broader activities in northwest Syria by other groups."
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