Rama Krishna Sangem
Turkiye (Turkey) will reopen its embassy Syrian capital, Damascus, after a gap of 12 years, since 2012. Recep Tayyip Erdogan government sees the Syrian developments as democratic change of power in the country. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says that Turkey’s Embassy in Syria’s capital of Damascus will reopen on Saturday, for the first time since 2012.
In an interview with Turkey’s NTV television Fidan said a newly appointed interim charge d’affaires had left for Damascus on Friday together with his delegation. “It will be operational as of tomorrow,” he said.
The Embassy in Damascus had suspended operations in 2012 due to the escalating security conditions during the Syrian civil war. All embassy staff and their families were recalled to Turkey.
Earlier on Friday, thousands of Syrians gathered in Damascus’ historic main mosque for the first Muslim Friday prayers since the ouster of President Bashar Assad, while giant crowds celebrated in the capital’s largest square and across the country.
Change of power in Syria
The gatherings were a major symbolic moment for the dramatic change of power in Syria, nearly a week after insurgents swept into Damascus, ousting the Assad-led state that had ruled the country for a half century with an iron grip. It came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with allies around the region looking to shape the transition, calling for an inclusive and non-sectarian interim government.
The main insurgent force, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has been working to establish security and start a political transition after seizing Damascus early Sunday. The group has tried to reassure a public both stunned by Assad’s fall and concerned over extremist jihadis among the rebels. The insurgents’ leadership says it has broken with its extremist past, though HTS is still labeled a terrorist group by the United States and European countries.
HTS’s leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, appeared in a video message Friday congratulating the great Syrian people for the victory of the blessed revolution.
I invite them to head to the squares to show their happiness without shooting bullets and scaring people, he said. And then after we will work to build this country and as I said in the beginning, we will be victorious by the help of God.
