Turkish FM Discusses with Blinken Need to Cooperate with New Syrian Administration

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) attending a press conference after their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024. (EPA/Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office handout)
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) attending a press conference after their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024. (EPA/Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office handout)
TT

Turkish FM Discusses with Blinken Need to Cooperate with New Syrian Administration

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) attending a press conference after their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024. (EPA/Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office handout)
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) attending a press conference after their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024. (EPA/Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office handout)

Türkiye's foreign minister discussed with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday the need to act in cooperation with the new Syrian administration to ensure the completion of the transition period in an orderly manner, the ministry said.

In a phone call, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Blinken that Ankara would not allow Kurdish YPG militia to take shelter in Syria, the ministry spokesperson said.

During the call, Blinken emphasized the need to support a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process that "upholds human rights and prioritizes an inclusive and representative government," according to a statement from the US State Department.

Blinken and Fidan also discussed preventing terrorism from endangering the security of Türkiye and Syria, the statement said.



International Flights Resume at Damascus Airport

An airport worker walks on the tarmac next to a Syrian Air plane at the Damascus International Airport on January 7, 2025. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
An airport worker walks on the tarmac next to a Syrian Air plane at the Damascus International Airport on January 7, 2025. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
TT

International Flights Resume at Damascus Airport

An airport worker walks on the tarmac next to a Syrian Air plane at the Damascus International Airport on January 7, 2025. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
An airport worker walks on the tarmac next to a Syrian Air plane at the Damascus International Airport on January 7, 2025. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)

International flights resumed at Syria’s main airport in Damascus on Tuesday for the first time since opposition fighters toppled President Bashar Assad last month.

A Syrian Airlines flight bound for Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates, took off at around 11:45 am, marking the first international commercial flight from the airport since December 8.

"Today marks a new beginning," Damascus airport director Anis Fallouh told AFP.

"We started welcoming outbound and inbound international flights," he said.

The first local flight since Assad’s ouster took off on Dec. 18 from Damascus airport to Aleppo in the country’s north.
Thirty-two people including journalists were on board the plane.

Assad fled Syria as a lightning opposition offensive wrested from his control city after city.