Syria, Türkiye deepen ties as FM al-Shaibani visits Ankara
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (R) welcomes Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan as the latter arrives at the airport, Damascus, Syria, April 5, 2026. (AA Photo)


Only four days after Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s visit to Damascus, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani arrived in Ankara for talks.

No details were released about the content of the talks, but the visit signals rapidly advancing collaboration between the two neighbors.

Turkish-Syrian relations, frozen during the civil war, took a new turn after forces led by incumbent President Ahmed al-Sharaa led a revolution in December 2024 to overthrow the oppressive regime of Bashar Assad, a close ally of Russia. Within one year, Ankara-Damascus ties gained an unprecedented momentum, with deals serving the interests of both countries.

During his visit to Syria on Sunday, Fidan also attended a trilateral summit with al-Sharaa and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who flew to the Syrian capital aboard a plane lent by Türkiye he visited on Saturday.

Syria, like Türkiye, strived to stay away from the U.S.-Israel-Iran war despite their close proximity to the conflict that began on Feb. 28. The conflict appears frozen for now with a cease-fire in place, but the two neighbors remain at risk of spillover of violence.