Turkiye’s international minister has met with the pinnacle of Syria’s new administration, promising assist with the political transition and rebuilding the war-torn nation after the autumn of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
Of their assembly in Damascus on Sunday, Turkiye’s Hakan Fidan and Syria’s de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa confused the necessity for unity and stability in Syria, as they known as for the lifting of all worldwide sanctions towards the war-ravaged nation.
Images and pictures shared by the Turkish ministry confirmed Fidan and al-Sharaa hug and shake palms, their assembly coming two days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan mentioned Fidan can be going to Damascus to debate the brand new construction in Syria.
Addressing the information convention with al-Sharaa, Fidan mentioned Turkiye “will proceed to face by your aspect … Hopefully the darkest days of Syria are behind [and] higher days await us.”
Fidan mentioned sanctions on Damascus have to be lifted “as quickly as attainable” and the worldwide neighborhood “must mobilise to assist Syria get again on its toes and for the displaced folks to return”.
Al-Sharaa, who was holding his first public information convention since main the operation to topple al-Assad and assume energy two weeks in the past, additionally known as on the worldwide neighborhood to elevate all sanctions towards Syria.
“All of the financial sanctions have to be lifted, now the predator has gone and solely the victims stay. The components of injustice and oppression have gone. Now the time is opportune for these sanctions to be lifted,” mentioned the pinnacle of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group.
“This regime has been ruling for greater than 50 years, and a few of these sanctions have been handed down within the Nineteen Seventies. That’s why the motion have to be swift, these sanctions have to be lifted rapidly to ensure that us to take our nation ahead.”
The 2 officers mentioned the need of drafting a brand new Syrian structure that protects the nation’s minorities. The difficulty of Syrian refugees, Israel’s “violations” of Syrian sovereignty, and the Kurdish Folks’s Safety Models (YPG) problem have been additionally on the agenda.
The opposition’s taking up of energy in Syria got here after 13 years of brutal struggle, which began as a largely unarmed rebellion towards al-Assad in 2011 however ultimately become an all-out struggle that dragged in international powers, killed tons of of hundreds of individuals, and turned hundreds of thousands into refugees.
Fidan’s go to to Damascus got here amid preventing in northeast Syria between Turkiye-backed Syrian fighters and the Kurdish YPG group, which Ankara regards as a terrorist organisation. Turkiye had for years backed rebels looking for to take away al-Assad, whereas additionally internet hosting hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees it hopes will begin returning house.
Al Jazeera’s Resul Sardar, reporting from Damascus, mentioned Turkiye has provided assist to the brand new Syrian administration, “emphasizing the significance of maintaining the state establishments up and working”.
“Turkiye has been one of many foremost backers of the Syrian opposition because the rebellion began in 2011. So now Fidan was in Damascus, and he merely emphasised the significance of preserving the state apparatuses,” he mentioned.
Lebanese Druze chief additionally visits
Al-Sharaa on Sunday additionally hosted Lebanese Druze chief Walid Jumblatt as a number of governments and Syrians alike specific considerations over the safety of minorities below the brand new Syrian authorities, together with the Kurds, Christians, Alawites, and the Druze who’re an Arab minority practising an offshoot of Islam.
“We take pleasure in our tradition, our faith and our Islam. Being a part of the Islamic atmosphere doesn’t imply the exclusion of different sects. Quite the opposite, it’s our responsibility to guard them,” al-Sharaa mentioned throughout his assembly with Jumblatt, in feedback broadcast by Lebanese broadcaster Al Jadeed.
Jumblatt is the primary Lebanese determine to go to Syria and meet the leaders of its new authorities.
Jumblatt, a veteran politician and outstanding Druze chief, mentioned al-Assad’s elimination needs to be the start of a brand new period of relations between Lebanon and Syria. A longtime critic of Syria’s involvement in Lebanon, he blamed al-Assad’s father, former President Hafez al-Assad, for the assassination of his father many years in the past.
“We salute the Syrian folks for his or her nice victories and we salute you in your battle that you simply waged to do away with oppression and tyranny that lasted greater than 50 years,” Jumblatt advised al-Sharaa.
Al-Sharaa, till lately referred to as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, mentioned he would ship a authorities delegation to the southwestern Druze metropolis of Sweida in Syria, pledging to supply companies to its neighborhood with a purpose to honour the nation’s “wealthy range of sects”.
“Syria will now not be a case of damaging interference in Lebanon,” he mentioned.
Al Jazeera correspondent Sardar mentioned al-Sharaa has given his assurances that each one non secular and ethnic minorities will probably be “pretty represented” in Syria.
“Whether or not the brand new administration goes to be tolerant sufficient towards the minorities, whether or not the minorities are going to be represented pretty in a brand new Syria or not – that query is being repeatedly requested to Ahmad al-Sharaa,” he mentioned.