ISTANBUL: The foreign ministers of Turkiye, Syria and Russia will meet “in the second half of January,” the Turkish foreign minister said Saturday, in the latest sign of rapprochement between Ankara and Damascus.
“We have decided to hold a tripartite meeting in the second half of January. The meeting could take place in a third country,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara, according to the NTV news channel.
The defense ministers of Turkiye, Syria and Russia met in Moscow on Wednesday for the first time since the start of the war in Syria in 2011, which has strained relations between Ankara and Damascus.
In mid-December, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he might meet his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad after meetings at the level of defense and foreign ministers.
Turkiye, a neighbor of Syria, has for more than a decade been the most important political and military backer of the Syrian opposition.
Analysts say Moscow is trying to bridge the divide between its two allies, united by a common “enemy” — Kurdish forces in northern Syria, described as “terrorists” by Ankara and backed by Washington.
Ankara launched a series of air raids against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria in late November, threatening a new ground operation following three such operations since 2016.
The Turkish and Syrian foreign ministers had a brief informal exchange on the sidelines of a regional summit in 2021 and Ankara acknowledged intelligence contacts.
Fiercely opposed to the regime of President Bashar Assad since the start of the conflict in 2011, Turkiye has in recent months softened its stance toward Damascus as it seeks to improve its relations with Arab countries.
Erdogan, who has repeatedly called Assad a “murderer” in recent years, said last month that a meeting with the Syrian leader was “possible.”
New meeting between Turkiye, Syria and Russia slated for January
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New meeting between Turkiye, Syria and Russia slated for January
- The defense ministers of Turkiye, Syria and Russia met in Moscow on Wednesday for the first time since the start of the war in Syria in 2011
US makes plans to reopen embassy in Syria after 14 years
- The administration has been considering re-opening the embassy since last year
- Trump told reporters on Friday that Al-Sharaa was “doing a phenomenal job” as president
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has informed Congress that it intends to proceed with planning for a potential re-opening of the US Embassy in Damascus, Syria, which was shuttered in 2012 during the country’s civil war.
A notice to congressional committees earlier this month, which was obtained by The Associated Press, informed lawmakers of the State Department’s “intent to implement a phased approach to potentially resume embassy operations in Syria.”
The Feb. 10 notification said that spending on the plans would begin in 15 days, or next week, although there was no timeline offered for when they would be complete or when US personnel might return to Damascus on a full-time basis.
The administration has been considering re-opening the embassy since last year, shortly after longtime strongman Bashar Assad was ousted in December 2024, and it has been a priority for President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack.
Barrack has pushed for a deep rapprochement with Syria and its new leadership under former rebel Ahmad Al-Sharaa and has successfully advocated for the lifting of US sanctions and a reintegration of Syria into the regional and international communities.
Trump told reporters on Friday that Al-Sharaa was “doing a phenomenal job” as president. “He’s a rough guy. He’s not a choir boy. A choir boy couldn’t do it,” Trump said. “But Syria’s coming together.”
Last May, Barrack visited Damascus and raised the US flag at the embassy compound, although the embassy was not yet re-opened.
The same day the congressional notification was sent, Barrack lauded Syria’s decision to participate in the coalition that is combating the Daesh militant group, even as the US military has withdrawn from a small, but important, base in the southeast and there remain significant issues between the government and the Kurdish minority.
“Regional solutions, shared responsibility. Syria’s participation in the D-Daesh Coalition meeting in Riyadh marks a new chapter in collective security,” Barrack said.
The embassy re-opening plans are classified and the State Department declined to comment on details beyond confirming that the congressional notification was sent.
However, the department has taken a similar “phased” approach in its plans to re-open the US Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, following the US military operation that ousted former President Nicolás Maduro in January, with the deployment of temporary staffers who would live in and work out of interim facilities.
