Turkish Foreign Minister meets Syria’s new leader, calls for lifting of global sanctions. syrian war news

Turkey’s foreign minister met with the head of Syria’s new administration and promised political change and help rebuild the war-torn country after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

At their meeting in Damascus on Sunday, Turkiye’s Hakan Fidan and Syria’s de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa stressed the need for unity and stability in Syria, as they called for the lifting of all international sanctions against the war-ravaged country.

Photos and footage shared by the Turkish ministry showed Fidan and al-Sharaa embracing and shaking hands, their meeting coming two days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Fidan was in Syria. Will be going to Damascus to discuss the new structure.

Addressing a press conference with al-Shara’a, Fidan said Turkiye “will continue to stand by your side… Hopefully Syria’s darkest days are behind us (and) better days await us.”

Fidan said sanctions on Damascus should be lifted “as soon as possible” and that the international community “needs to unite to get Syria back on its feet and help the return of displaced people”.

Al-Sharaa, who was holding his first public news conference since leading the operation to oust al-Assad and take power two weeks ago, also called on the international community to lift all sanctions against Syria .

“All economic sanctions should be lifted, now the hunter is gone and only the victims are left. The factors of injustice and oppression have ended. Now is the right time to lift these restrictions,” said the head of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group.

“This regime has been ruling for more than 50 years, and some of these restrictions were imposed in the 1970s. So action must be swift, we have to remove these restrictions quickly to take our country forward.”

The two officials discussed the need to draft a new Syrian constitution that protects the country’s minorities. The issue of Syrian refugees, Israel’s “violation” of Syrian sovereignty and the issue of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) were also on the agenda.

The opposition’s seizure of power in Syria follows a brutal 13-year war that began as a largely unarmed uprising against al-Assad in 2011 but eventually escalated into an all-out war involving foreign powers. and hundreds of thousands of people were killed. And millions of people were made refugees.

Fidan’s visit to Damascus comes as fighting rages in northeastern Syria between Turkish-backed Syrian fighters and the Kurdish YPG group, which Ankara considers a terrorist organization. Turkiye, which for years has supported rebels seeking to oust al-Assad, while also hosting millions of Syrian refugees, hopes they will begin returning home.

Al Jazeera’s Resul Sardar, reporting from Damascus, said Turkiye had offered help to the new Syrian administration “while stressing the importance of keeping state institutions running.”

“Turkiye has been one of the main supporters of the Syrian opposition since the uprising began in 2011. So now Fidan was in Damascus, and he simply stressed the importance of preserving the state apparatus,” he said.

Lebanese Druze leader also visited

Al-Sharaa also hosted Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt on Sunday, as many governments and Syrians alike express concerns over the safety of minorities under the new Syrian government, including Kurds, Christians, Alawites and Druze. There are one billion minorities practicing one branch. Of Islam.

“We are proud of our culture, our religion and our Islam. Being part of the Islamic environment does not mean exclusion of other sects. On the contrary, it is our duty to protect them,” al-Sharaa said during his meeting with Jumblatt in comments broadcast by Lebanese broadcaster Al Jadeed.

Jumblatt is the first Lebanese person to visit Syria and meet leaders of the new government there.

Jumblatt, a veteran politician and prominent Druze leader, said the removal of al-Assad should mark the beginning of a new era of relations between Lebanon and Syria. A longtime critic of Syria’s involvement in Lebanon, he blames al-Assad’s father, former President Hafez al-Assad, for assassinating his father decades earlier.

“We salute the Syrian people for their great victory and we salute you for the fight that you fought to get rid of more than 50 years of oppression and tyranny,” Jumblatt told Al-Sharaa. “

Al-Sharaa, who until recently was known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, said he would send a government delegation to Syria’s southwestern Druze city of Sweida to honor the country’s “rich diversity of sects.” Will pledge to provide services to his community. ,

“Syria will no longer be a case of negative interference in Lebanon,” he said.

Al Jazeera correspondent Sardar said al-Sharaa had assured that all religious and ethnic minorities in Syria would be given “proper representation”.

“Whether the new administration will be tolerant enough towards minorities, whether minorities will be properly represented in the new Syria – these are the questions Ahmed al-Sharaa is being asked again and again,” he said.