news.cenet.topTurkish foreign minister in Damascus for talks with Syria's Sharaa, source says

[Desmond Milligan 0]

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey's foreign minister will hold talks with Syria's president in Damascus on Thursday to assess bilateral ties, tensions between Syria and Israel, and recent clashes between a Kurdish-led group and the Syrian government, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said.

NATO member Turkey has emerged as one of Syria's main foreign allies after the ousting of Bashar al-Assad last year. It has pledged to help rebuild the war-torn country, train and advise its armed forces, and support it in the international arena.

The source said Syria's reconstruction would be among the top agenda items during Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan's meeting with President Ahmed al-Sharaa, in addition to Ankara's security concerns over recent violence in Syria.

"The talks are expected to assess Turkey's national security concerns stemming from northeast Syria, as well as cooperation between the two countries in the fight against terrorist organisations... at a time when preserving Syria's territorial integrity and unity is more important than ever," the source said.

Ankara considers the Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces a terrorist organisation.

It has repeatedly said the SDF, which controls much of northeast Syria, must abide by an agreement it signed with Damascus in March to integrate into the Syrian state apparatus, while also providing technical, advisory and military support to Syria to increase its defence capabilities and fight Islamic State militants.

Fidan's visit follows clashes this week between the SDF and Syrian government forces in Manbij and Aleppo, and weeks of tensions between Israel and Syria over fighting between Druze and Bedouin forces last month, which Ankara has described as an Israeli sabotage attempt against efforts to achieve stability in Syria.

Fidan, who has said Israel aimed to fragment Syria and that Ankara would not allow this, will also discuss "the actions and rhetoric of Israel that pose a threat to Syria and the region's stability", the source said.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Ece Toksabay and Hugh Lawson)

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