Turkey, which shares a border of 910 kilometers with Syria, is considered a key ally of the new administration.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan welcomed the interim president of Syria, Ahmed al-Charaa, at the presidential palace of Ankara, Turkey, on Tuesday to discuss the economic recovery of Syria as well as its security and its stability.
During a joint press conference organized at the end of the meeting at the presidential palace, Ahmed al-Charaa said that Turkey and Syria were considering a “common strategy” to face the threats to the security of the two countries.
“We have discussed threats that would prevent Syrian land unity in northeast Syria”announced the former rebellious chief.
Kurdish and Israel forces at the heart of discussions
One of the main concerns of Turkey is The presence of rebel forces led by the Kurds in northern Syria.
Ankara considers Syrian Kurdish militias – which are part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (FDS), allied in the United States and led by Kurds – as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
While putting pressure for the group to be dissolved, The fighters supported by Turkey face the SDFs to try to remove the Kurdish militias from the Turkish border.
“We have also discussed the need to exert international pressure on Israel so that it withdraws from the buffer zone in southern Syria and that it implements the 1974 agreement”said Ahmed al-Charaa at the end of the meeting.
Second trip abroad of the new Syrian president
Ahmed al-Charaa was Appointed Syrian president “transition” last week. He is the former head of the Hayat Tahrir Al-Cham (HTC) organization, who directed the insurgents who overthrew the former president Bashar al-Assad in December.
It is his second trip abroad, after his recent visit to Saudi Arabia at the beginning of the month.
The new Syrian president was greeted by Rece Tayyip Erdoğan and a small group of honor guards at the entrance to the presidential palace, a relatively modest ceremony for the reception of a foreign head of state.
Ankara strongly supported the opposed groups to Bashar al-Assad during the 13 years of civil warand is therefore considered a key ally of the new administration.
Sharing a 910 km border with Syria, Turkey is also the country that has welcomed the most Syrian refugees since the start of the war in 2011, with more than 3.8 million people to its peak in 2022.
