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ADVERTISEMENTTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met the acting leader of Syria Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Istanbul on Saturday.
The surprise visit to the acting leader of Syria in Istanbul came after his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia.
Announced on January 29 as head of the interim administration of Syria, Al-Sharaa made his first visit to Türkiye in February at the invitation of President Erdogan.
The acting leader of Syria, who arrived in Ankara on an airplane provided by Turkey, stressed in his speech that they wanted to transform their relations with Turkey into a “deep strategic cooperation”.
The meeting took place at the Dolmabahçe work office and attended by the Turkish chief of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) İbrahim Kalın, the Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, the Turkish Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler and the Syrian Foreign Minister Assad Hassan şeyeybani.
President Erdogan said the United States and the United States’s decision to facilitate sanctions against Syria were “greeted by Turkey”. The Turkish chief also underlined the need to protect the territorial integrity of Syria, referring to Israeli troops within the country’s borders.
In turn, the Syrian chief thanked President Erdogan “for his critical support and his efforts” in the lifting of the sanctions.
Trump-Al-Sharaa meeting
US President Donald Trump met the acting chief of Syria Al-Sharaa in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, as part of his Middle East tour. The meeting intervened after the surprise announcement that the United States would raise all sanctions against the new Syrian government.
Trump’s decision suddenly lifting sanctions against Syria has accelerated a longtime roadmap in Brussels. On May 20, the European Union decided to raise all the remaining economic sanctions against Syria.
Despite the concerns among some in his administration concerning the previous links of the Syrian management with Al-Qaeda, Trump reported a significant change in policy by announcing that he would raise sanctions against Syria at the meeting. President Erdogan attended the online meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and President Trump.
Trump’s decision to lift the sanctions is considered a major diplomatic victory for Al-Sharaa, who overthrew former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December. However, incidents such as the murder of hundreds of allaouis civilians in March showed how fragile the country remains. Western governments, including the United States, condemned these attacks.
For years, Al-Sharaa has been the head of the official Al-Qaeda branch in Syria. He first joined the organization in Iraq and spent five years in American prisons. Later, Al-Sharaa founded the Al-Nura organization in Syria, affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).
Later, he announced his defection of the Islamic State and founded the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) organization, which is still recognized as a “terrorist” organization by many countries. However, things have started to change slowly after the reversal of the brutal dictator for a long time Assad. In December, the United States canceled the bonus of $ 10 million on the head of Al-Sharaa.
