Syrian civil war

Turkish forces have killed the leader of the Islamic State group during an operation in Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said late on April 30. 

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told TRT Turk television in an interview that the ISIL leader, code-named Abu Hussein al-Qurayshi, was killed in a strike conducted on Saturday.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Turkish intelligence forces killed Islamic State leader Abu Hussein al-Qurashi in Syria.

"This individual was neutralized as part of an operation by the Turkish national intelligence organization in Syria yesterday," Erdogan said in an interview with TRT Turk broadcaster.

The National Intelligence Organization (MİT) has "neutralized" a senior PKK member the military intelligence manager of the organization stated during an operation in northern Syria.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has said there are positive signs that the Syrian regime can cooperate with Türkiye for the return of 3.6 million Syrian refugees to their homeland, as well as on security matters, amid an ongoing normalization process with the mediation of Russia and Iran.

The United States wants the establishment of a "terror state" in northern Syria by politically and militarily supporting the YPG terror organization, Türkiye's top diplomat has said, citing serious problems in the bilateral ties although the relations are more stable compared to the past.

Türkiye makes efforts for the nation's security and regional peace holding four-way talks with Syria, Russia and Iran, but Ankara will keep on maintaining the interests of Syrian citizens during this process, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on April 25.

Defense ministers of Türkiye, Russia, Iran and Syria, along with the intelligence chiefs of the three countries have met in Moscow on April 25, the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement.

They discussed concrete steps that can be taken in the field of strengthening the security situation in Syria and normalizing Türkiye-Syria relations, said the statement.

Twenty artifacts repaired by Czech art restorers after being damaged during the civil war in Syria are on display at Prague's National Museum before their return back home next month.

The objects include three limestone funerary portraits from the UNESCO-listed ancient site of Palmyra, which were damaged by Islamic State group militants who took the city by force in 2015.

The Turkish government is taking all the necessary actions for the evacuation of its nationals from Sudan where clashes between the rival groups have intensified, the Turkish foreign minister has said, repeating Ankara's concerns over the prolonged armed tension in the African country.

The PKK's April 16 attack in northern Syria, in which four Turkish soldiers were wounded, has been "retaliated," and a total of 10 terrorists have been neutralized, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has said.

The treatment of the soldiers injured after the attack on the Olive Branch and Euphrates Shield operations' base areas is ongoing, Akar told the media on April 17.