DAMASCUS, Syria: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday met with the leader of the new Syrian administration, Ahmed al Sharaa in Damascus and discussed the latest situation in the country after the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
According to Turkish media Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz, Turkey’s Acting Charge d’Affaires at the Damascus Embassy Burhan Koroglu, and Esaad Hasan Seyban, who was appointed as the Syrian interim government’s foreign minister, were also present in the meeting.
Turkey was among the first countries to congratulate the victory of the people of Syria to oust Bashar al-Assad after years of conflict in the country that displaced millions.
Meanwhile, the State Department has said, a top US diplomat for the Middle East travelled to Damascus on Friday, where he met officials from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) to discuss the need for an “inclusive” political process.
This was the first interaction between US officials and the HTS days after Bashar Assad, fled to Russia.
In an interview with France 24 on Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan said that HTS had “excellent cooperation” with Ankara in the battle against Daesh and al-Qaeda in the past through intelligence sharing.
In the same interview, Fidan described the US delegation’s visit to Damascus as very significant, mentioning that prior to the US officials’ visit, European countries and global organisations had already met with the new administration.
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In yet another development Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa told Lebanese Druze leaders that his country would not negatively interfere in Lebanon and would respect its neighbour’s sovereignty.
Syria will no longer exert “negative interference in Lebanon at all — it respects Lebanon’s sovereignty, the unity of its territories, the independence of its decisions and its security stability,” Sharaa told visiting Druze chiefs Walid and Taymur Jumblatt.
Walid Jumblatt is the first Lebanese figure to meet Sharaa since his HTS and allied groups launched a lightning offensive last month.
