Turkey Says Backs Moves To Reduce Syria Tension

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Turkey’s top diplomat discussed the shock rebel offensive in Syria with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday, saying Ankara would support moves “to reduce tension” in the war-torn country.

In a phone call, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Blinken that Turkey was “against any development that would increase instability in the region and we support moves to reduce the tension in Syria”. a ministry source said.

He also said “the political process between the regime and the opposition should be finalised” to ensure peace and security in Syria while insisting that Ankara would “never allow terrorist activities against Turkey nor against Syrian civilians”.

His remarks came after Syrian rebels and their allies from Turkish-backed factions launched their biggest offensive in years, seizing control of Syria’s second-largest city Aleppo from forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

The flareup has also seen pro-Turkish rebel groups attacking both government forces and Kurdish YPG fighters in and around the northern Aleppo province over the weekend, a Syrian war monitor said.

Turkey sees the YPG as an offshoot of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party), which has led a decades-long insurgency against Ankara.

The lightening offensive began Wednesday, the same day a truce between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah came into effect, with the UN’s Syria envoy warning the fighting posed a grave threat to regional and international security.

In his call with Blinken, Fidan said Israel “should keep its promises in order for the Lebanon ceasefire to become permanent” and called for a ceasefire in Gaza “as soon as possible”.

The pair also discussed Ukraine and South Caucasus, the source said.

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