President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will chair a meeting of his Cabinet on Monday and is expected to address the nation afterwards. Developments in the region will naturally top the agenda of the meeting, media outlets reported on Sunday.
The ministers will discuss Syria, Gaza and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, along with the terror-free Türkiye initiative, and tensions between the United States and Iran.
Türkiye’s policies regarding Damascus prioritizing Syria's territorial integrity, stability and Türkiye’s border security will also be tackled by the ministers. A new agreement between the U.S.-backed terrorist group YPG and Damascus, which is expected to fully come into force on Monday, will be among issues set to be discussed. The YPG’s presence in northeastern Syria as a self-styled autonomous force always worried Türkiye due to the former’s links to the terrorist group PKK, which killed thousands in Türkiye in the past.
Türkiye is a staunch supporter of Damascus, which opposes a separate entity within its borders in the form of the YPG. The recent agreement involves integration of the YPG into Syrian army and a gradual takeover of YPG-held areas by the Syrian government.
Around same time of the Cabinet meeting, Syrian security forces are expected to enter Hassakeh and Qamishli, both occupied by the YPG, to take control of internal security in the two towns located near the Turkish border. Security forces will also take control of border crossings with Türkiye previously controlled by the YPG.
The meeting will also focus on the terror-free Türkiye initiative and will discuss steps to fully achieve the plan to disarm the terrorist group PKK. The Sabah newspaper reported on Sunday that counterterrorism operations and intelligence units’ work on monitoring PKK’s disarmament would be on the table at the meeting.
In foreign policy, the ministers will discuss escalating tensions between Iran and U.S., after President Donald Trump’s threat to strike Iran. Türkiye advocates dialogue for resolving the looming conflict between the two countries, a stance repeatedly voiced in Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s meeting with his Iranian counterpart earlier this week in Istanbul, as well as President Erdoğan’s phone diplomacy with the Iranian and U.S. presidents. The ministers will also discuss the situation in Gaza, particularly the ongoing cease-fire and Türkiye’s possible steps for rebuilding the devastated Palestinian enclave.
The ministers will also discuss the Russia-Ukraine war and assess Türkiye’s balancing policies as the only country with close ties with both sides of the conflict, the Sabah report said.
