Fidan told Syrian officials Ankara was determined to deepen cooperation between the two countries in ‘every field’ [Getty/file photo]
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said after a visit to Damascus on Thursday that the neighbours wanted to deepen ties as he praised Syria’s efforts since the overthrow of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad in December.
Turkey has forged close ties with Syria’s new authorities who have worked to attract investment for the reconstruction of infrastructure destroyed in the country’s devastating civil war.
Fidan, who made his third trip to Damascus since December, met with interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa on Thursday.
“In our talks with Mr. Sharaa today, we had the opportunity to address numerous issues such as trade, investment, transportation, and energy,” Fidan wrote on X.
Under the leadership of the two countries’ presidents, “we are determined to deepen cooperation between Turkey and Syria in every field,” he added.
Fidan said they also discussed Israel’s operations in Syria.
“The Syrian government is … tackling many challenges to make the country safer, more stable, and prosperous. The international community, particularly the United States and European countries, is providing significant support,” the minister said.
“Israel, on the other hand, is pursuing a policy of destabilising our region,” he said, adding that thwarting Israel’s policies was “a shared responsibility of the international community.”
Israel launched hundreds of strikes on military sites following Assad’s overthrow, claiming at the time it wanted to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of the new authorities.
In July, Israel bombed Syrian government forces in the capital Damascus and in Suweida province to force their withdrawal from the southern region amid a wave of sectarian violence.
Israel claimed it was defending the Druze community, but some diplomats and analysts say its goal is to weaken the Syrian military and keep the new government’s forces away from the frontier.
