ISTANBUL, January 29. /TASS/. With Syria under a new government, the door is open for regional cooperation in logistics, transport, trade and energy spheres, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Wednesday.
"The recent developments in Syria have opened a new window of opportunity for our region," Fidan said, speaking at a meeting with heads of foreign ministries, trade ministries and transportation ministries of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. "We must, hand in hand, take action for the revival and [further] development of Syria."
"Stability in Syria will contribute to the stability and security of the whole region, and it also opens up new opportunities for cooperation in logistics, transport, trade, and energy spheres," the TRT Haber television channel quoted Hakan as saying during the meeting.
Turkey’s top diplomat also said that a joint declaration would be signed following today’s meeting.
"In line with our plan of action, we will finalize the roadmap of concrete steps that we need to take going forward," Fidan added.
Armed opposition units in Syria launched a large-scale offensive on government troops in the Aleppo and Idlib governorates in late November 2024. On December 8, they entered Damascus, while President Bashar Assad stepped down and fled the country.
On December 10, Mohammed al-Bashir, who had led the so-called Syrian Salvation Government in the Idlib governorate, announced his appointment as head of Syria’s interim government, saying that the transitional period will last until March 1, 2025.
Leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (outlawed in Russia) Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has become Syria’s de facto new leader.