Authorities in Ankara closed border crossings with Syria on Tuesday and shut down communications in its zone of control in the country after at least four people were killed in riots in the area against Turkish presence.
The unrest, which began on Monday, has tested the limits of the Turkish reach in Syria, as outrage mounts over attacks on Syrian refugees inside Turkey and at changes in Ankara's position on the Syrian civil war.
The violent attacks on Syrians in Turkey began on Sunday following allegations against a Syrian man of sexually assaulting a Syrian girl. Neither the victim nor the alleged attacker have been named.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the authorities have detained 474 people in connection with overnight attacks on Syrian citizens in Turkey.
Fears that Ankara could turn against opponents of President Bashar Al Assad as part of a proposed rapprochement with Damascus, 13 years into the civil war, have also fuelled the violence.
"The liberated areas depend on these crossings for survival and it will be a disaster if Turkey sustains the closures," a Syrian official in an international humanitarian organisation, based near the Bab Al Hawa crossing in northern Syria, told The National.
It is one of four crossings between Turkey and areas controlled by its proxies in Syria that have shut. Others controlled by the Assad regime, and with areas under the control of a Kurdish militia, have been closed for years.
The official source said Turkish-linked internet networks in Syria were shut down in retribution for attacks in the past 24 hours against Turkish garrisons and other interests in area.
Residents also attacked and burnt lorries carrying Turkish goods at a new crossing linking the Turkish zone in Syria with areas under the control of Damascus, members of the Syrian opposition to the regime said.
The crossing opened last month as part of preparations for a possible rapprochement between Ankara and Damascus, they said.
Regional competition
In 2016, Turkey started carving out a zone in northern Syria, joining Russia, Iran and the US, as the main foreign powers in the fragmented country.
On Tuesday, a mix of militia fighters and other armed elements attacked positions manned by Turkish troops and members of the Syrian National Army, a proxy force set up by Turkey five years ago.
The troops responded by firing back, killing four people in the area of Afrin in Aleppo province, residents said.
Among the attackers, they said, were men linked with the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, an offshoot of Al Qaeda, that is considered a de facto ally of Turkey.
"We must prevent sedition and those who commit it," Moataz Raslan, a commander in the Syrian National Army, said on X.
In Turkey, online videos purportedly showed shops and cars belonging to Syrians being set on fire in the cities of Kayseri, Gaziantep and Antakya, and Syrians being beaten by groups of men.
"The psychological state of all Syrians is bad – even Syrians with Turkish citizenship are living in the same fear," a Syrian refugee in Gaziantep said.
The Syrian Diaspora in Gaziantep, a charity organisation, said the local government migration directorate had formed a crisis cell to deal with the violence against Syrians.
Senior Turkish officials from the ruling AK Party and the main opposition, the CHP, have tried to rein in the unrest, calling for calm and an end to racist slurs against Syrians.
Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz condemned "those who try to cause turmoil in our country, with provocative purposes and hate speeches".
Turkey has received billions of dollars in funding from international donors over the past decade, primarily the EU to provide services for Syrians in the country, including health care and education.
But anti-Syrian sentiment and attacks on the refugees have grown in the country amid deteriorating economic conditions.
Hundreds of thousands of Syrians fled a crackdown by Syrian authorities on a peaceful revolt against the regime in 2011 and the subsequent civil war. The Syrian refugee population in Turkey is now about 3 million.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Company Profile
Company name: NutriCal
Started: 2019
Founder: Soniya Ashar
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Industry: Food Technology
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If you go...
Flying
There is no simple way to get to Punta Arenas from the UAE, with flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi requiring at least two connections to reach this part of Patagonia. Flights start from about Dh6,250.
Touring
Chile Nativo offers the amended Los Dientes trek with expert guides and porters who are met in Puerto Williams on Isla Navarino. The trip starts and ends in Punta Arenas and lasts for six days in total. Prices start from Dh8,795.
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INDIA SQUADS
India squad for third Test against Sri Lanka
Virat Kohli (capt), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Vijay Shankar
India squad for ODI series against Sri Lanka
Rohit Sharma (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul
THE BIO
BIO:
Born in RAK on December 9, 1983
Lives in Abu Dhabi with her family
She graduated from Emirates University in 2007 with a BA in architectural engineering
Her motto in life is her grandmother’s saying “That who created you will not have you get lost”
Her ambition is to spread UAE’s culture of love and acceptance through serving coffee, the country’s traditional coffee in particular.
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More on animal trafficking
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Specs
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
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TOUCH RULES
Touch is derived from rugby league. Teams consist of up to 14 players with a maximum of six on the field at any time.
Teams can make as many substitutions as they want during the 40 minute matches.
Similar to rugby league, the attacking team has six attempts - or touches - before possession changes over.
A touch is any contact between the player with the ball and a defender, and must be with minimum force.
After a touch the player performs a “roll-ball” - similar to the play-the-ball in league - stepping over or rolling the ball between the feet.
At the roll-ball, the defenders have to retreat a minimum of five metres.
A touchdown is scored when an attacking player places the ball on or over the score-line.