European Commission, EC President, Von Der Leyen on Tuesday visited Turkey President, Recep Erdogan and discussed additional €1 billion for the settlement of Syria Refugees in Turkey days after Israeli forces patrolled inside a recently-seized demilitarized zone along the border with Syria as Tel Aviv announced plans to double the number of Israelis living in the part of the Golan Heights Israel captured from Syria in 1967 with reports of hostilities between US backed Kurdish group and Turkey backed Islamist group in recent days in Kurdish towns which United Nations’ special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said on Tuesday there have been conflicts in Syria in last two weeks and the conflicts among the rebels if left uncontrolled, maybe catastrophic.

European Commission in a news release on Tuesday, reported that the Commission President visited Turkey and discussed additional €1 billion for 2024 to support Turkey’s efforts to host Syria refugees.

The news release reads in details thus: “Thank you, President Erdoğan, for your warm welcome to Ankara today. Let me start with our discussion on Syria. The collapse of the Assad regime offers new hope to the Syrian people, but it equally comes with risks. The situation on the ground remains extremely volatile, so we are closely monitoring the developments.

The Syrian people deserve a peaceful transition. One that preserves their country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. One that upholds state institutions. And one that reflects the aspirations of the Syrian people in all their diversity.

So, it means that national unity must be respected, and minorities must be protected. This is aligned with the principles agreed by the Foreign Ministers meeting in Aqaba.

Europe is ready to do its part to support Syria at this critical juncture. Allow me to mention some points where the European Union will be active right away. Our top diplomat returns to Damascus. We already have a European presence in Damascus through our humanitarian teams.

Indeed, we have always maintained our presence in Syria to support those in need while respecting the principles of no contact, no cooperation, no funding to the Assad regime. But now we have to step up and continue our direct engagement with HTS and other factions.

We will enhance our engagement in early recovery, including basic services, like electricity and water, and infrastructure. We have increased our humanitarian aid to more than €160 million for this year alone. And we have launched a humanitarian air bridge, and the first goods are expected to arrive this week.

Europe is already Syria’s biggest donor. Since 2011, our annual Syria conferences have mobilised over €33 billion. We must continue this support, with a new focus on reconstruction, this would be a step-by-step approach.

And we would need to start a discussion on sanctions’ relief. But this can only happen if real progress on a peaceful transition is seen on the ground. Indeed, the fall of the Assad regime gives hope to the Syrian people.

The hope of returning to their homes and rebuilding their lives. It is the most natural feeling there is. However, the lack of predictability demands utmost caution. Therefore, one thing is very clear: All returns must be voluntary, safe, and dignified. We are working with UNHCR to make sure that the necessary conditions are met.

President Erdoğan, Türkiye has an essential role to play in stabilising the region. Together, we must also remain vigilant against terrorism. The risk of a Daesh resurgence, particularly in eastern Syria, is real. We cannot let this happen. Türkiye’s legitimate security concerns must be addressed. At the same time, it is important to allow all Syrians, including all minorities, to be safe.

Today, we also discussed the relationship between Türkiye and the European Union. Our relationship is as rich as it is complex. But one thing is clear: it is moving forward. For good reasons, one of my first travels at the beginning of my second mandate brings me here to Ankara.

Our economic relationship is stronger than ever. The numbers speak for themselves. Trade between us hit a record high of €206 billion last year. The European Union is Türkiye’s largest trade and investment partner.

Our intention is to strengthen this further. We launched a new High-Level Dialogue on Trade last June. And we will now start a high-level dialogue on the economy, and we are also exploring opportunities for renewed engagement with the European Investment Bank in Türkiye.

I also look forward to resuming discussions on a modernised Customs Union. We both have a lot to gain here. However, as we discussed, progress will require stronger efforts.

Specifically, we need to address a number of trade barriers. I asked my Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič to work on this immediately together with you. We also discussed the need to prevent the circumvention of our sanctions against Russia. And of course it is also important to re-establish talks with Cyprus, within the UN framework.

I want to acknowledge that Türkiye has consistently shouldered the responsibility of hosting millions of Syrian refugees over the years. And we have stood by you in this effort.

Since 2011, the EU has provided nearly €10 billion to support refugees and the hosting efforts of local communities. I am very pleased to announce today, that an additional €1 billion for 2024 is on its way.

This will support, among others, healthcare and education of refugees in Türkiye. It will continue to contribute to migration and border management, including voluntary returns of Syrian refugees. And as things evolve on the ground, we can adapt this €1 billion to the new needs that might occur in Syria.

Türkiye continues to be a key partner in managing migration along the Eastern Mediterranean route. It is crucial that we work together on our shared priorities, and deepen our cooperation on border management, the fight against migrant smuggling, and on visas.

There is a lot of work ahead of us and I look forward to continuing our good cooperation, both in supporting a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition and in deepening the relationship between Türkiye – as a candidate country –, and the European Union. Together, we can achieve a lot for our people, for the region, and beyond”, European Commission news release ends in quote.

Reuters on Tuesday reported that “an international war crimes prosecutor said evidence from mass graves in Syria exposed a state-run ‘machinery of death’ under toppled leader Bashar al-Assad, with over 100,000 tortured and murdered since 2013.

Speaking after visiting two mass grave sites in the towns of Qutayfah and Najha near Damascus, former US war crimes ambassador at large, Stephen Rapp told Reuters: “We certainly have more than 100,000 people that were disappeared into and tortured to death in this machine.

“I don’t have much doubt about those kinds of numbers given what we’ve seen in these mass graves. We really haven’t seen anything quite like this since the Nazis,” said Rapp, who led prosecutions at the Rwanda and Sierra Leone war crimes tribunals and is working with Syrian civil society to document war crimes evidence and is helping to prepare for any eventual trials.

“From the secret police who disappeared people from their streets and homes, to the jailers and interrogators who starved and tortured them to death, to the truck drivers and bulldozer drivers who hid their bodies, thousands of people were working in this system of killing,” Rapp said.

Adding, “We are talking about a system of state terror, which became a machinery of death.”

AFP also reported on Tuesday that “a UN envoy has warned that Syria’s protracted conflict “has not ended yet”, even as victorious Islamist-led rebels stepped up contacts with governments that deemed ousted president Bashar al-Assad a pariah.

Assad fled Syria just over a week ago following a lightning offensive spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), more than 13 years after his crackdown on democracy protests precipitated one of the deadliest wars of the century.

However, the United Nations’ special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said on Tuesday “there have been significant hostilities in the last two weeks, before a ceasefire was brokered”.

“I am seriously concerned about reports of military escalation. Such an escalation could be catastrophic,” said Pedersen, referring to fighting between the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkish-backed groups who have captured several Kurdish towns in recent weeks.

Washington later announced it had brokered an extension to the ceasefire in the flashpoint town of Manbij and was seeking a broader understanding with Ankara.

The Manbij truce “is extended through the end of the week and we will, obviously, look to see that ceasefire extended as far as possible into the future”, State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller told reporters.

That came amid fears of an assault by Turkey on the Kurdish-held border town of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab.

SDF leader Mazloum Abdi proposed in a post on social media platform X the establishment of a “demilitarised zone” in Kobane under US supervision.

Washington regards the SDF as an important ally in its war against the Islamic State group in Syria, although the new Damascus authorities have made clear their opposition to continued Kurdish self-rule in the northeast.

The HTS military chief said in an AFP interview on Tuesday that Kurdish-held areas of Syria would be integrated under the country’s new leadership.

“The Kurdish people are one of the components of the Syrian people… Syria will not be divided and there will be no federal entities,” said Murhaf Abu Qasra, known by his nom de guerre Abu Hassan al-Hamawi.

Abu Qasra also called on the international community to “find a solution” to repeated Israeli strikes on military targets and its “incursion” into the UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on Syrian military assets since Assad’s overthrow in what it says is a bid to prevent them falling into hostile hands.

Israeli troops also occupied strategic positions in a UN-patrolled buffer zone in a move UN chief Antonio Guterres described as a breach of the 1974 armistice.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a security briefing on Tuesday on Mount Hermon, Syria’s highest peak, one of the areas of the buffer zone that Israel seized this month.

Netanyahu visited “outposts at the summit of Mount Hermon for the first time since they were seized by the military”, Katz’s office said”, AFP report ends in quote.