Senior Turkey delegation visits Syria following Sharaa-SDF deal
Turkey’s top diplomat, intelligence and defense chiefs have arrived in Damascus following a key deal between Syria’s new rulers and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
ANKARA — Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yasar Guler and Ibrahim Kalin, head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), made a surprise visit to Damascus on Thursday. The visit comes at a critical moment following a key agreement between Syria's president and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
“Fidan, along with Minister of National Defense Yasar Guler and MIT head Ibrahim Kalin, will carry out a working visit to Syria today,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The visit follows a preliminary agreement finalized on Monday between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and the SDF that outlines the integration of the Kurdish-led group into Syria’s central government institutions.
The SDF currently controls a third of Syrian territory. Sharaa has been pressuring the group to cede control of these areas to the central government and integrate into the national army.
