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Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is planning a visit to Syria "in the near future," speaking at a joint press conference in Damascus with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani.
"Our president is planning a visit to Syria in the near future. He has desired this visit for a very long time. We are working to create the conditions for it. During this visit of mine, I also reviewed the work the High Planning Group could carry out ahead of his visit. In this respect, our visit carries significance as well," Fidan said.
Fidan said Türkiye views the SDF's declaration on dissolving itself and integrating into Syrian state institutions as valuable.
"We consider the SDF's declaration on dissolving itself and integrating into Syrian state institutions to be valuable. This is an important step, an important initiative, and an important and constructive response to the constructive efforts being carried out by the Syrian government. We expect this to be translated into practice and concluded without delay. The declaration stage is important, but it also needs to be implemented," Fidan said.
He said the integration of all armed elements in the country under a centralized state structure is essential for strengthening Syria's sovereignty, territorial integrity and social unity.
"Not only the SDF, but every armed group remaining from the civil war era is being unified one by one under the national army. This is important for the country's stability, for attracting investment, for the strength of the country's national fabric, and for all citizens feeling secure," he said.
The top Turkish diplomat stated that it is important for Syrians to express themselves and live freely on the basis of equal citizenship, without any faith or ethnic identity being denied or persecuted.
"In the integration process, the aim is for our Kurdish citizens to feel more secure, more free and more prosperous than before. This is Türkiye's perspective on this matter. Our president shows great sensitivity, particularly regarding the welfare, stability and security of our Kurdish brothers in Syria and Iraq. We are conducting all our efforts on this matter accordingly," Fidan said.
Fidan also welcomed the United States' decision to remove Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, calling it a significant development for investors and the financial sector.
"On the other hand, America removed Syria from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism. With this, one of the main obstacles to Syria's reintegration with the world economy has been removed. This is news that particularly concerns investors closely. It is also important news in terms of banking and finance. We congratulate them," Fidan said.
Fidan said Türkiye aims to raise bilateral trade with Syria to $10 billion in the medium term, citing a recent visit to Damascus by Trade Minister Omer Bolat along with a large delegation of Turkish business figures.
"In the coming period, we aim to increase mutual investments and raise our bilateral trade volume to $10 billion in the medium term. We assess that there is significant cooperation potential, particularly in the field of energy. We are also accelerating our work in the area of connectivity. Especially after the recent events in the Strait of Hormuz, we saw how the world and regional economy entered a crisis. Connectivity is becoming increasingly important, and we believe Syria will play a vital role in this regard," Fidan said.
He described a vision of Syria connecting to the Gulf through Jordan and Saudi Arabia, to the East through Iraq, and to Europe through Türkiye.
"We want this to be realized not only on the map but also in practice, through railways, highways and pipelines that will be built. There is currently a railway project underway, a route that Türkiye, Syria and Saudi Arabia are working on, connecting Syria to both the Gulf and Europe. We have intensive work underway on this as well," Fidan noted.
Fidan said Israel's policies represent the most serious obstacle to the positive developments underway in Syria.
"Within this entirely positive picture, there is one negative element. At a time when Syria offers so much hope to the region and the world, there is suddenly an actor working to destabilize Syria. You know that actor's name: Israel. The policies Israel is pursuing constitute the most serious obstacle to this positive trajectory," he said.
"The attack carried out on the Abu al-Duhur military airbase is one of the most recent examples of this. It is Syria's sovereign right to ensure security on its own territory, combat terrorism and develop its national capacity," the Turkish top diplomat noted.
"Israel's attacks also damage the international community's joint fight against terrorism. By systematically targeting Syria's military capacity, Israel is indirectly providing support to terrorist organizations such as Daesh. We are closely following developments in southern Syria within this framework as well. We know that Israel has a hand in the instability occurring there. They themselves do not hide this, they say it openly," Fidan stated.
Türkiye's top diplomat noted that the Druze are one of the essential components of Syrian society and see their future within Syria's unity and integrity, describing last year's Sweida Road Map as providing the necessary groundwork for security, restoring public services and social reconciliation.
On a settlement with Israel in southern Syria, Fidan said the only realistic framework would be a security arrangement based on the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, adding that Türkiye expects a "more determined and results-oriented" stance from the international community on the issue.
He said his talks with al-Shaibani also covered how international organizations, particularly the United Nations, could be mobilized more effectively in response to Israeli steps violating international law against Syria's sovereignty.
Fidan said Türkiye hopes to see a Syria that has fully secured its sovereignty and territorial integrity, where all segments of society feel they equally belong, and which produces stability and prosperity for its neighbors, adding that Türkiye would continue its efforts both through its own national capacity and in cooperation with the broader international community.
He noted Israel's policies represent the most serious obstacle to counterterrorism efforts and positive regional developments more broadly, accusing Israel of seeking to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and of working to keep neighboring Arab-Muslim countries, including Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, from becoming strong, economically prosperous and stable, viewing their development as a threat to itself.
"But Israel, unfortunately, is so conditioned that we saw this in the Gaza genocide as well. It cannot even hypothetically conceive of a policy other than bloodshed. The entire region is being assessed through a language of threat and hostility, through aggression, through a framework of existence or non-existence," Fidan said, calling on the international community to develop a different kind of language toward this radical, fundamentalist mindset, and to use all available effort to turn Israel back from the wrong path.
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