Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the UNGA that his country has 'neither the means nor the patience to meet new immigration waves'. AP
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the UNGA that his country has 'neither the means nor the patience to meet new immigration waves'. AP
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the UNGA that his country has 'neither the means nor the patience to meet new immigration waves'. AP
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the UNGA that his country has 'neither the means nor the patience to meet new immigration waves'. AP

Turkey sends more troops to Syria before Erdogan's visit to Russia


Mona Farag
  • English
  • Arabic

Turkey has sent more troops to north-western Syria as it prepares for a critical meeting with the leaders of Russia and Iran next week, signalling its determination to continue blocking an assault on one of the Syrian war’s last front lines.

The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is concerned an attempt by Russian-backed Syrian forces to move on the rebel bastion of Idlib would send more refugees streaming towards the Turkish frontier.

Attacks in early July, bolstered by artillery and mortar fire from government-held areas, resulted in the deaths of 54 civilians, including 11 children and 10 women, and wounded more than 148 people.

Mr Erdogan is expected to raise the issue of Idlib escalation when he meets Vladimir Putin and Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi on September 29, say two Turkish officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. Iran is also a supporter of the Syrian regime.

Thousands of additional soldiers would help deter any attempted advances by Syrian ground forces on Idlib and control roads leading to the Turkish border, the officials said.

With Turkish troops acting as a deterrent, the most Syrian forces can do is recover territory step by step, Moscow-based Middle East expert Elena Suponina said.

Combatant positions around Idlib have remained mostly static since March 2020, when Mr Erdogan and Mr Putin struck a truce agreement ending fierce fighting between Turkish and Syrian forces.

Last week, Mr Putin condemned the presence of foreign troops in Syria as the Russian President held unannounced talks in Moscow with his counterpart Bashar Al Assad.

Growing refugee crisis

An increase in attacks by Russian warplanes and Syrian forces on the territory has attracted the attention of Turkish officials already facing growing domestic criticism over the cost of housing the world’s biggest refugee populations.

“We can’t tolerate a new wave of refugees,” Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on a visit to the Syrian border on September 11, a day after militants killed three Turkish soldiers in Idlib. “We must do our best to prevent migration. The basis of this lies in making the region safe and stable. We are striving for that.”

At the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, Mr Erdogan addressed the issue of displaced people.

“As a country that saved human dignity in the Syrian crisis, we have neither the means nor the patience to meet new immigration waves,” he said.

Under a 2016 agreement, the EU paid Turkey billions of dollars to take in Syrians fleeing the war and looking to settle in Europe.

Turkey now hosts about 4 million Syrians. Opposition to their presence grew as the economy faltered during the pandemic, and the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan threatened a new influx.

In related news, Syria's Defence Minister Ali Ayyoub and the Jordanian Army's chief of staff Lt Gen Yousef Hunaiti came face-to-face in a rare meeting between the heads of the countries' militaries on Sunday.

The meeting took place after a Syrian military offensive in the town of Deraa, south of Damascus, an area of instability 13 kilometres north of the border with Jordan.

Russia had previously brokered a ceasefire in Deraa between the government of Mr Al Assad and a local Syrian rebel group but the truce broke down in July.

Within a month of fighting more than 40,000 people fled the area, the UN Office for the co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

Russia's military intervention in 2015 helped turn the tide of the war in the regime's favour. Moscow maintains military bases in the country.

Results

Final: Iran beat Spain 6-3.

Play-off 3rd: UAE beat Russia 2-1 (in extra time).

Play-off 5th: Japan beat Egypt 7-2.

Play-off 7th: Italy beat Mexico 3-2.

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

MATCH INFO

Day 2 at the Gabba

Australia 312-1 

Warner 151 not out, Burns 97,  Labuschagne 55 not out

Pakistan 240 

Shafiq 76, Starc 4-52

The biog

Title: General Practitioner with a speciality in cardiology

Previous jobs: Worked in well-known hospitals Jaslok and Breach Candy in Mumbai, India

Education: Medical degree from the Government Medical College in Nagpur

How it all began: opened his first clinic in Ajman in 1993

Family: a 90-year-old mother, wife and two daughters

Remembers a time when medicines from India were purchased per kilo

Bio

Born in Dubai in 1994
Her father is a retired Emirati police officer and her mother is originally from Kuwait
She Graduated from the American University of Sharjah in 2015 and is currently working on her Masters in Communication from the University of Sharjah.
Her favourite film is Pacific Rim, directed by Guillermo del Toro

DUBAI WORLD CUP CARNIVAL CARD

6.30pm Handicap US$135,000 (Turf) 2,410m

7.05pm UAE 1000 Guineas Listed $250,000 (Dirt) 1,600m

7.40pm Dubai Dash Listed $175,000 (T) 1,000m

8.15pm Al Bastakiya Trial Conditions $100,000 (D) 1.900m

8.50pm Al Fahidi Fort Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,400m

9.25pm Handicap $135,000 (D) 2,000m

 

The National selections

6.30pm: Gifts Of Gold

7.05pm Final Song

7.40pm Equilateral

8.15pm Dark Of Night

8.50pm Mythical Magic

9.25pm Franz Kafka

MATCH INFO

Manchester City 4 (Gundogan 8' (P), Bernardo Silva 19', Jesus 72', 75')

Fulham 0

Red cards: Tim Ream (Fulham)

Man of the Match: Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City)

Dubai Women's Tour teams

Agolico BMC
Andy Schleck Cycles-Immo Losch
Aromitalia Basso Bikes Vaiano
Cogeas Mettler Look
Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport
Hitec Products – Birk Sport 
Kazakhstan National Team
Kuwait Cycling Team
Macogep Tornatech Girondins de Bordeaux
Minsk Cycling Club 
Pannonia Regional Team (Fehérvár)
Team Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Team Ciclotel
UAE Women’s Team
Under 23 Kazakhstan Team
Wheel Divas Cycling Team

UAE Tour 2020

Stage 1: The Pointe Palm Jumeirah - Dubai Silicon Oasis, 148km
Stage 2: Hatta - Hatta Dam, 168km​​​​​​​
Stage 3: Al Qudra Cycle Track - Jebel Hafeet, 184km​​​​​​​
Stage 4: Zabeel Park - Dubai City Walk, 173km​​​​​​​
Stage 5: Al Ain - Jebel Hafeet, 162km​​​​​​​
Stage 6: Al Ruwais - Al Mirfa, 158km​​​​​​​
Stage 7: Al Maryah Island - Abu Dhabi Breakwater, 127km

Race card

6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 (PA) US$100,000 (Dirt) 2,000m

7.05pm: Meydan Classic Listed (TB) $175,000 (Turf) 1,600m

7.40pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 2,000m

8.15pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (D) 1,600m

8.50pm: Nad Al Sheba Trophy Group 2 (TB) $300,000 (T) 2,810m

9.25pm: Curlin Stakes Listed (TB) $175,000 (D) 2,000m

10pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 2,000m

10.35pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,400m

The National selections

6.30pm: Shahm, 7.05pm: Well Of Wisdom, 7.40pm: Lucius Tiberius, 8.15pm: Captain Von Trapp, 8.50pm: Secret Advisor, 9.25pm: George Villiers, 10pm: American Graffiti, 10.35pm: On The Warpath

RESULT

RS Leipzig 3 

Marcel Sabitzer 10', 21'

Emil Forsberg 87'

Tottenham 0

 

'The Batman'

Stars:Robert Pattinson

Director:Matt Reeves

Rating: 5/5

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Updated: September 22, 2021, 10:34 AM