Syria’s interim president Ahmed Al-Sharaa travelled to Ankara in February for talks with Erdogan [Getty]
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to pay his first official visit to Syria since the overthrow of the Assad regime in December, The New Arab’s Arabic-language sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on Saturday.
In remarks at the Antalya Diplomatic Forum on Friday, Turkey’s ambassador to Syria Burhan Koroglu said the trip “may take place in the near future”.
This would be first visit of a Turkish head of state to Syria since 2009 when then-president Abdullah Gul met Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus.
Syria’s interim president Ahmed Al-Sharaa held talks with Erdogan at the Antalya forum on Friday in what was his second trip to Turkey since he led a rebel takeover of Syria in December 2024.
Turkey was one of the Syrian opposition’s biggest foreign backers during the country’s 14-year civil war, and since Assad’s ouster has pledged to provide economic and military support to the fledging administration.
Its deepening involvement in Syria has brought it increasingly into conflict with Israel, which in response to Assad’s overthrow has regularly bombed Syrian military targets and voiced support for the breakup of the country.
During his speech at the Antalya Diplomatic Forum, Erdogan described Israel as a “terrorist state” that is “committing genocide” against the Palestinian people in Gaza, and accused it of trying to destroy the Syrian government.
“Israel is trying to dynamite the 8 December revolution by stirring up ethnic and religious affiliations and turning minorities in Syria against the government,” the Turkish president said.
Turkey and Israel have held talks this week seeking to dial back tensions and prevent the situation from escalating into a military confrontation.
