Turkey and Syria have pledged to expand cooperation across key sectors, including security, trade and reconstruction, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Thursday after talks in Damascus, and accused Israel of pursuing a policy aimed at destabilizing the region.
Fidan’s Thursday visit marked his third trip to Damascus since the December 2024 overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in a rebel-led offensive that ended more than a decade of civil war. The country is now governed by a transitional administration led by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Bugün, Esad rejiminin devrilmesinin ardından geçen dokuz ay içinde üçüncü kez Şam’ı ziyaret ettim.⁰⁰Her ziyaretimde, Suriye’nin birçok alanda katettiği ilerlemeyi bizzat müşahede etmekteyim.⁰⁰Sayın Cumhurbaşkanımızın ve Suriye Cumhurbaşkanı Sayın Şara’nın liderliklerinde,… pic.twitter.com/eaJ28ApUAD
— Hakan Fidan (@HakanFidan) August 7, 2025
The Turkish foreign minister met with al-Sharaa and Syrian Foreign Minister Hasan Esad Sheybani during his visit. In a post on X, Fidan said the two sides discussed trade, investment, transportation and energy along with steps to be taken at the bilateral and regional levels for Syria’s reconstruction.
“We especially focused on security issues and concentrated on internal and external threats to Syria’s sovereignty and political unity,” Fidan said, adding that Ankara is determined to deepen cooperation with Damascus “in all areas” under the leadership of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and interim President al-Sharaa.
Fidan also reaffirmed Turkey’s readiness to support Syria’s fight against terrorist organizations and said Ankara is prepared to assist the Syrian government in managing and securing camps in the northeast.
Turning to regional tensions, Fidan accused Israel of targeting Syria and pursuing “a policy to destabilize our region,” calling it a shared responsibility of the international community to prevent such actions. Israel has carried out repeated airstrikes in Syria since Assad’s fall, claiming the attacks are aimed at preventing weapons from reaching groups it considers hostile. In July Israeli forces bombed Syrian government units in Damascus and Sweida amid a surge in sectarian violence. While Israel said it was defending the Druze community, diplomats and analysts suggest the aim was to weaken the new government’s military presence in the south.
Fidan said the Syrian government is facing serious challenges as it seeks to make the country safer and more stable, adding that the United States and the European Union are providing significant support in this effort following the lifting of long-standing sanctions.
“As Turkey, we will continue to stand by the Syrian people and support their legitimate aspirations and will,” Fidan said.
Regional analysts view Ankara’s outreach as an attempt to shape Syria’s post-war reconstruction and counterbalance Israeli influence in the region.
With reporting from Agence France-Presse