Türkiye will continue working diplomatically to push for the removal of international sanctions on Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Friday, as he met with interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Antalya.
Erdoğan held bilateral meetings with world leaders and top diplomats on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.
He affirmed Türkiye’s continued diplomatic efforts to lift international sanctions on Syria and emphasized the need to step up efforts to revitalize trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. Erdoğan added that potential steps in other areas of collaboration could also be considered.
His discussion with al-Sharaa also focused on bilateral relations between Türkiye and Syria, as well as regional and global developments.
Erdoğan expressed his satisfaction that those seeking to reignite chaos in Syria have not been given the opportunity. He stated that the coming years would be marked by stability, prosperity, and peace in Syria.
Reiterating Türkiye’s long-standing support, President Erdoğan assured that Ankara will continue to back Syria in its journey toward lasting stability.
Türkiye, which has urged Syria’s interim administration to address the PKK/YPG’s control over large parts of northern Syria, has been closely monitoring the integration of the SDF into the Syrian government.
The SDF, an umbrella armed group led by the U.S.-backed YPG, currently controls one-third of Syria's territory, including most of the country's oil and gas fields. The YPG uses the name SDF to give itself an air of legitimacy. The group, which is the Syrian branch of the PKK terror group, had refused to join the new Syrian Defense Ministry following the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. The deal to be implemented by the end of the year would bring all border crossings with Iraq and Türkiye in the northeast, as well as airports and oil fields, under the control of the central government. Syria's Kurds will gain their rights, including teaching and using their language, which were banned for decades under Assad. The agreement envisions the integration of Syrian Arab Republic institutions and affirms territorial unity while rejecting any form of division
