Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al Sharaa – also known as Abu Mohammed al-Golan – in Damascus, Türkiye’s foreign ministry said on Sunday, without providing further details.
Photographs and footage shared by the ministry showed Fidan and Sharaa, leader of leading opposition group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham which led the operation to topple Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, hug and shake hands.
Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yılmaz, Türkiye’s Acting Charge d’Affaires at the Damascus Embassy Burhan Köroğlu, and Esaad Hasan Seyban, who was appointed as the Syrian interim government’s foreign minister, were also present in the meeting.
A top US diplomat for the Middle East also traveled to Damascus on Friday, where he met officials from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) to discuss the need for an “inclusive” political process, according to the State Department.
The meeting marks the first between US officials and the HTS days after Bashar Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963.