President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday appointed Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yılmaz as Türkiye’s new ambassador to Damascus, a landmark step that restores top-level diplomatic representation with Syria for the first time in more than a decade.
The decision was published in the Official Gazette with Erdoğan’s signature.
Defense Minister Yaşar Güler received Yılmaz and congratulated him on his new post.
Yılmaz thanked Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan for the appointment.
“Drawing strength from the deep human and cultural ties that have existed for centuries between Türkiye and Syria, we will work to advance our relations in a manner that upholds good-neighborly principles and contributes to peace and stability in our region,” Yılmaz wrote on X.
“I have personally witnessed the support Türkiye has provided to the Syrian people in their most difficult days. From now on, as the Turkish state, we will continue working with our Syrian brothers and sisters to shape the welfare, tranquility and shared future of our peoples,” he added.
U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye and U.S. Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said he looks forward to working closely with Yılmaz as he begins what he described as a “historic” mission in Syria.
