Arab press: Turkish occupation, Russia are competing for the M4; Turkey is a route for ISIS to Libya

On Saturday, Arab press have discussed the Turkish occupation's moves in Syria, in addition to the Lebanese crisis, and the Turkish intervention in Libya.

'The occupation attacks Ain Issa and evacuates its points in Idlib'

The beginning of the Syrian issue, and in this context, Al-Arab newspaper said: "The strategic city of Ain Issa in northeastern Syria has witnessed violent battles since Wednesday between factions loyal to Ankara backed by Turkish warplanes and the Syrian Democratic Forces."

Observers believe that "Turkey is trying to exploit the transitional period that the United States, the ally of the Syrian Democratic Forces, is going through to control more vital areas within the area of ​​the latter's control, including Ain Issa, which overlooks the international road or M 4."

The M4 road is one of the priorities of the parties to the ongoing conflict in Syria, as it is a vital commercial artery, linking the governorates of Aleppo, Latakia and al-Hasakah, on the border with Iraq.

Controlling this road was one of the motives for the military operation that Damascus launched with the support of Moscow on Idlib governorate and its environs last December, which was stopped according to a Turkish-Russian agreement in February, which provides for the opening of this road to commercial traffic, as joint patrols are taking place today between the two sides on its sides.

Observers say that Turkey's attack today on Ain Issa aims to strengthen its position on this road, in order to gain pressure on Russia.

A Turkish military source, who requested anonymity, said on Friday that the last evacuations of the Turkish forces were completed on Thursday evening, and that the forces were re-deployed inside the territories controlled by the forces supported by Ankara, according to an understanding reached with Russia.

The source pointed out that "the matter is not in the form of withdrawing forces or reducing their numbers, the situation is only related to changing the location."

The Syrian Observatory was quick to deny these allegations, and said that what is being propagated by Turkish sources is untrue, stressing that the region has not witnessed within the past 48 hours any Turkish withdrawal from its sites in northwestern Syria.

Observers believe that the Turkish allegations may be aimed at propaganda with the aim of confusing the Syrian Democratic Forces, which are still coherent despite the intensity of the attack on them in Ain Issa.

'Attempts to bring in the Lebanese government by the end of the year'

On the Lebanese issue, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper said: “The Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al-Rai entered the line of efforts to try to bring the Lebanese government before the end of the year. He met President Michel Aoun and the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, after he had met the Prime Minister The day before yesterday, Saad Hariri.

Sources accompanying the meeting with Aoun and the sponsor said that the Patriarch put Aoun in the atmosphere of his meeting with Hariri, while Aoun put the Patriarch in the atmosphere of the formulas that were circulated, and Aoun emphasized that his goal is to form a productive and effective government that is able to face the current issues internally and regionally, and the Patriarch wished Aoun to resume communication with Hariri, and "Aoun expressed his readiness for this matter."

'Tunisian ISIS arrives in Libya via Turkey'

In its turn, Al-Bayan newspaper said: "Media sources revealed that the Tunisian terrorist Bilal Chaouachi, known as" Abu Yahya Zakaria ", arrived in Libya recently from Turkey.

According to the Africa portal, Chaouachi, who was born in France, is now in the eastern region, and the sources said that he is a dangerous terrorist, noting that the National Committee for Combating Terrorism in Tunisia decided last year to renew the freeze of his funds and economic resources for six months, subject to renewal.

Tunisian Chaouachi, a former prominent leader in the Ansar al-Sharia terrorist organization in Tunisia, which expanded under the leadership of its former emir, Saifullah bin Hussein, Abu Ayyad, one of Osama bin Laden's most prominent aides in Afghanistan, to form a similar organization in Libya, who traveled from Tunisia to Libya in From 2013, to Turkey, to reach Syria, and become a leader in Jabhet al-Nusra, and from there he moved to the terrorist organization ISIS before defecting from it and fleeing to Turkey.

The Tunisian authorities had previously arrested Chaouachi on more than one occasion, before releasing him each time, under pressure from the Ennahda movement, especially between 2011 and 2013 when Ennahda was directly controlling the Ministry of Interior.

T/S

ANHA