Top Syrian delegation to pay first official trip to Türkiye
ANKARA
A high-level delegation that includes foreign and defense ministers will pay a first official trip from Syria to Türkiye on Jan. 15, following the collapse of the six-decade-old Baath regime in early December.
"We will represent the new Syria tomorrow in the first official visit to the Turkish republic, which has not abandoned the Syrian people for 14 years," interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani said in a statement on Jan. 14.
Along with al-Shaibani, interim Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra and intelligence chief Anas Khattab will be in the delegation. They will be hosted by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and National Intelligence Organization (MİT) chief İbrahim Kalın in the Turkish capital Ankara.
Fidan and Kalın have already visited Damascus following Bashar al-Assad's ouster by opposition groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) under the leadership of Ahmed al-Sharaa. He is leading the transition in Syria and trying to rebuild the administration.
Türkiye has been the staunchest supporter of the Syrian opposition forces since the civil war began in 2011 that claimed the lives of around 1 million civilians at the hands of Assad rule. It has also been sheltering over 3 million Syrians who fled the oppression.
In Ankara, talks are expected to focus on the development of Turkish-Syrian bilateral relations on a wide range of issues, including military, economy and intelligence as the former is helping the reconstruction of the war-torn neighbor. Türkiye has created a working group to coordinate the works of different governmental bodies to help Syria.
It has already deployed teams from the energy and transportation ministries to address the immediate problems of Syria in these areas.
Security issues will be discussed
Türkiye has been calling on the United States and the European Union to lift the sanctions on Syria in order to ease the delivery of necessary assistance for the reconstruction of the country. An international meeting hosted by Saudi Arabia with the participation of prominent Arab and Western powers over the weekend has signaled that sanctions will be lifted in the coming days and weeks. The EU will discuss the issue on Jan. 27 and the U.S. will do so following the inauguration of Donald Trump as the U.S. president on Jan. 20.
Türkiye and all other international stakeholders call on Damascus to establish an inclusive government where different religious and ethnic groups can be represented.
In Ankara, the Turkish and Syrian delegations will also discuss security issues, especially over the presence of YPG and ISIL. Türkiye and the new administration in Syria have reiterated that "there is no place for terrorism" in the country and that all armed groups should lay down on arms.
The Syrian government and YPG representatives held initial talks but the fact that the latter still has the protection of the U.S. delays an agreement between the parties. The U.S. and Türkiye held extensive talks on the matter but they failed to come to an agreement. This will also be discussed with the Trump administration in the coming weeks.