ISTANBUL (Dispatches) -- 
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was set to meet leaders of Syria’s Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in Ankara on Sunday to discuss security cooperation.
According to a Foreign Ministry statement, the meeting would include Turkey’s Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalın alongside HTS representatives. The agenda focuses on deepening security cooperation between Turkey and HTS amid ongoing regional instability.
HTS rules from Damascus following the ouster President Bashar al-Assad. Despite its extremist roots, Turkey has emerged as a primary backer of HTS, providing weapons, logistics, and military training since a controversial military cooperation agreement was signed in August 2025.  
Turkey’s outreach to HTS starkly contrasts with its long-standing campaign against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a designated terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU. 
The Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), a militia group linked to the PKK, has been Turkey’s primary adversary in northern Syria. While the YPG has been a key U.S. ally, Turkey views it as a terrorist organization due to its ties with the PKK, which has waged an insurgency in Turkey for decades.
Recent developments saw HTS and the YPG announce a ceasefire, with Syrian HTS leader Muhammad al-Jolani declaring an agreement to integrate YPG forces into Syrian state institutions. However, repeated violations by the YPG have cast doubt on the durability of this agreement. 
Meanwhile, Turkey continues to pressure the YPG to abandon what it terms their “separatist agenda,” underscoring Ankara’s opposition to Kurdish autonomy aspirations which is backed by the U.S. and Israel.