Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L.) and Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Ahmad al-Sharaa meeting in Damascus on Dec. 22, 2024. (Credit: Turkish Foreign Affairs Ministry /AFP)
Once a sworn enemy, Turkey has emerged as Syria's closest ally. Since the Syrian opposition, led by the radical Islamist group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), seized power, Ankara has had much to celebrate. After more than a decade of striving for the downfall of the Assad regime, Turkey now finds itself in a privileged position to play a leading role in shaping Syria’s future, forging close ties with its new rulers. Read more Disputes persist between the Kurds and Syria’s new authorities For Damascus, the shift is equally strategic. The country’s new leadership, keenly aware that the destinies of Bashar al-Assad’s Syria and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Turkey are intertwined, has begun to play the recognition card. "This victory is not only that of the Syrian people, it is also that of the Turkish people," declared Syria’s interim...
Once a sworn enemy, Turkey has emerged as Syria's closest ally. Since the Syrian opposition, led by the radical Islamist group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), seized power, Ankara has had much to celebrate. After more than a decade of striving for the downfall of the Assad regime, Turkey now finds itself in a privileged position to play a leading role in shaping Syria’s future, forging close ties with its new rulers. Read more Disputes persist between the Kurds and Syria’s new authorities For Damascus, the shift is equally strategic. The country’s new leadership, keenly aware that the destinies of Bashar al-Assad’s Syria and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Turkey are intertwined, has begun to play the recognition card. "This victory is not only that of the Syrian people, it is also that of the Turkish people," declared Syria’s...