Turkish president calls Syrian leader Assad a ‘terrorist’

Syria’s government BEIRUT — is allowing the evacuation of nearly 30 critically ill people from a besieged Damascus suburb, where hundreds requiring medical treatment have been prevented from reaching hospitals minutes away.

The government recently tightened its siege of eastern Ghouta, home to some 400,000 people, leading to severe shortages of food, fuel and medicine as winter sets in.

Ingy Sedky, spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Damascus, said four patients were allowed to leave Tues- day and 25 others were expected to be let out soon.

It was not clear if all would be evacuated in one batch or over several days. The ICRC is partnering with the local Syrian Arab Red Crescent to handle the evacuations. SARC spokeswoman Mona Kurdi said the evacuees arrived in hospitals in government-controlled Damascus, just a few minutes’ drive away.

The Army of Islam, a prominent rebel group in eastern Ghouta, said the critically ill will be evacuated as part of a deal that was conditional on it releasing an equivalent number of captives.

“There are many more people who need to be evacuated. We hope this will be only the beginning,” Sedky said.

The evacuees included three children, as young as 1 year old, and one adult. The patients, who traveled with family members, needed immediate treatment for cancer, kidney failure and hemophilia.

At least five detainees were evacuated from eastern Ghouta late Tuesday.

Some patients may not be able to leave eastern Ghouta for government-controlled areas, because they either fear conscription into the army or detention for having lived or worked in oppo- sition areas.

For weeks, the U.N. has been calling on the govern- ment to allow some 500 crit- ically ill people to leave the suburb for treatment and to expand aid groups’ heavily restricted access to the area. Activists in eastern Ghouta have circulated photos online of severely malnourished children. The U.N. says 1 in 8 children in eastern Ghouta is going hungry, up from 1 in 50 in May.

Earlier this month, the U.N. said 12 people had died waiting for medical evacu- ation from eastern Ghouta. Their names were on a U.Ndrawn list submitted to the government six months ago.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his government is working with Russia, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, to try to evacuate some 500 people from eastern Ghouta, including about 170 women and children, who are in urgent need of humanitarian or medical assistance. Tur- key is a leading supporter of the Syrian opposition.

Rights groups say the government has used siege tactics across Syria to starve local p opula t ions and force rebels to surrender, which would amount to a war crime. The govern- ment denies the allegations, blaming shortages on rebel groups.

Eastern Ghouta was one of the first areas to rise up against Assad when Arab Spring protests spread across the country in 2011. Govern- ment forces surrounded the area in 2013, but tunnels and smuggling allowed residents to bring in food and medical supplies.

The government tightened the noose earlier this year following victories against insurgents in other parts of the country.

Assad’s rule is more secure than at any time since the uprising began, and the opposition is largely con- fined to the suburbs around Damascus and the northwestern rebel-held Idlib province.

“De-escalation” agree- ments brokered by Russia, Iran and Turkey have reduced the violence in most areas, but efforts to reach a political solution to the con- flict remain stalled.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday that Russian-brokered talks slated for next month were crucial for reaching a settlement, and would not interfere with U.N.-backed negotiations, which have made virtually no progress since they began in 2014.

Syria’s TUNIS, TUNISIA — peace efforts cannot include President Bashar Assad, Turkey’s leader said Wednesday, calling him a “terrorist.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke during a visit to Tunisia at the end of a fourday Africa trip focusing on economic issues.

At a joint news conference with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, Erdogan called Assad a “terrorist who engaged in state terror- ism” and should not be part of Syria’s post-conflict future.

“How can we embrace a future with a Syrian leader who has killed close to a million of his citizens?” said the Turkish leader, whose country has seen a flood of refugees from neighboring Syria during the fighting.

Turning to another highly sensitive Middle East issue, Erdogan and Essebsi said their nations would never accept changes to Jerusalem’s historic status after President Donald Trump’s recognition of the city as Israel’s capital.

“Jerusalem is our red line. Any steps against Jerusalem’s historic status and holiness are unacceptable,” Erdogan said, adding that his country will work toward international recognition of the Palestinian state and seek the support of the European Union.

The Turkish leader also vowed to help support Tunisia overcome economic hardships and combat extremism. Erdogan, who also was attending a Turkish-Tunisian economic forum, was accompanied by a delega- tion of nine ministers and 200 businessmen.

Erdogan earlier visited Sudan and Chad, where he signed military and economic deals.

Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim was paying a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, where he met Wednesday with King Salman.

The two countries recently have been at o d ds over regional issues.

Following his accession to power in 2015, King Salman sought to improve relations with Turkey to form a so-called Sunni axis against rival Shiite-led Iran. However, the kingdom’s move in June to lead a four-nation boycott of Qatar and cut off ties with the Gulf state led to new tensions with Turkey, which has sided with Qatar.

The Turkish prime minister’s office said Yildirim and King Salman exchanged views on “regional challenges and problems.” They also emphasized the importance of Jerusalem’s status and the need for the Islamic world to act in unity to protect the rights of Palestinian “brothers.”

Yildirim was also expected to meet Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.