BEIRUT // Nato ambassadors will hold crisis talks in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss how to counter the threat to Turkey from ISIL militants in northern Syria.
Turkey called the emergency session, only the fifth in the alliance’s 66-year history when a Nato member believes its “territorial integrity, political independence or security” is at risk.
It follows an ISIL suicide bombing near the border with Syria that killed 32 people and an ISIL attack on Turkish forces in which one soldier died.
The Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he would use the meeting to spell out in detail the security threats his country faces. “We expect solidarity and support from our Nato allies.”
The United States and Turkey are also working on plans to provide air cover for Syrian rebels to drive ISIL militants from a strip of land along the Turkish border. The campaign would bolster Turkey’s security and provide a haven for civilians.
Turkey has been a reluctant member of the coalition against ISIL, but in a dramatic reversal last week Ankara gave the alliance access to its air bases and bombarded ISIL targets in Syria.
The Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the US and Turkey agreed on the need for an ISIL-free zone along the border. “What we have now is air coverage to clear a region from Daesh and support the moderate opposition so they can gain control of that region,” he said.
“We do not want to see Daesh on Turkey’s borders.”
The joint action is likely to be complicated by Turkish attacks on Kurdish fighters in Syria, who control most of the 910-kilometre border and have warned Ankara against any military intervention in northern Syria.
In a series of cross-border strikes since Friday, Turkey has not only targeted ISIL but also Kurdish fighters affiliated with forces battling the extremists in Syria and Iraq.
The Syrian Kurds are among the most effective ground forces battling ISIL and have been helped by US-led air strikes, but Turkey fears they could revive an insurgency against Ankara in pursuit of an independent state.
Syria’s main Syrian Kurdish militia – the People’s Protection Units, or YPG – is affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkey and maintains bases in remote parts of northern Iraq.
On Tuesday Mr Cavusoglu refused to draw a distinction between ISIL and the PKK.
“There is no difference between PKK and Daesh. You can’t say that PKK is better because it is fighting Daesh,” he said. The PKK is fighting ISIL “for power, not for peace, not for security”.
In other developments, the YPG said Turkish troops shelled a Syrian village near the border, targeting Kurdish fighters. They said the Sunday night shelling on the border village of Til Findire targeted one of their vehicles. Til Findire is east of the border town of Kobani, where the Kurds handed a major defeat to ISIL earlier this year.
But Turkish officials insisted their forces were only targeting the ISIL group in Syria, and the PKK in neighbouring Iraq.
An Ankara official said Turkey returned fire after Turkish soldiers at the border were fired upon, in line with Turkey’s rules of engagement. “The Syrian Kurds are not a target of the operations. Our operations only target ISIL in Syria and PKK in Iraq,” he said.
He said authorities were “investigating claims that the Turkish military engaged positions held by forces other than ISIS”.
The YPG did not say whether there were casualties in the shelling. The YPG said Turkey first shelled Til Findire on Friday, wounding four fighters of the rebel Free Syrian Army and several local villagers. It urged Turkey to “halt this aggression and to follow international guidelines”.
But the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said four fighters were wounded in the village of Zor Maghar, which is also close to the Turkish border.
Syria’s main Kurdish party, the Democratic Union Party, or PYD, warned Turkey this month that any military intervention would threaten international peace and its armed wing, the YPG, would respond to any “aggression”.
Turkish police on Tuesday raided homes in Ankara and arrested at least 15 people suspected of links to ISIL.
Turkey has arrested hundreds of people with suspected links to violent extremists.
* Associated Press
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
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company
The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.
He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.
“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.
“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.
HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon.
With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.
